Chandigarh: Haryana police has booked Punjab’s former director general of police Mohammad Mustafa, his wife Razia Sultana, a former minister, among four, in connection with the death of their son, Aqil Akhter, 35, who was found dead under ``suspicious circumstances’’ on October 16, at his residence in Panchkula’s MDC sector 4, near here.
Haryana police, which has formed a special investigation team (SIT) to investigate the matter, registered an FIR under Sections 103(1) and 61, of BNS, for murder and criminal conspiracy, respectively, on October 20.
Stating that the FIR was registered on the basis of a complaint lodged by one, Shamshuddin Choudhary of Malerkotla, on October 17, police said besides Mustafa, Sultana, Aqil’s sister and wife are also the accused in the case.
Police said that the family members were informed about the death, their statements were reported and the body was handed over to them after the post mortem. The family took the body to their native village in Saharanpur, UP, and performed the last rites.
According to police Aqil, an advocate at Punjab and Haryana High Court, was found unconscious by his family at his sector 4 residence in Mansa Devi Complex (MDC), Panchkula, and was rushed to nearby General Hospital, where he was declared brought dead.
It was after the death that a media post surfaced purportedly made by Akil prior to his death, alleging threats to his life and alleging personal disputes with the family. He is survived by his wife and a five-year old son and a seven-year old daughter.
In the said video, Aqil accused his father of having an affair with his wife and conspiring to kill him. He allegedly held that he had found out his wife’s affair with his father and was under a lot of stress and mental trauma. He also accused his mother and sister of conspiracy against him.
However in another twist in the story, Aqil in another video, which surfaced later, gave clean chit to his family, apologised for the video made last year, as the same was made due to his ``mental illness’’. He lauded his family, especially his sister, for their care during the times of his ``mental illness’’.
Meanwhile, according to a media report, Mustafa has said that while he welcomes the FIR registered by Panchkula police, his son died because of drug overdose.
Stating that his son was a drug addict and he could not leave drugs despite family’s repeated efforts, the former DGP said that now a video has surfaced in which he has himself admitted that the charges in the video made last year, were baseless. ``The charges he levelled, I cannot even mention’’, Mustafa said and added that there are some political rivals who are attempting to suppress him.
Mustafa, a 1985-batch IPS officer, who retired from Punjab police in 2021, later joined Congress. Aqil's mother Razia Sultana, a three-time MLA from Malerkotla, was a minister in the Congress government.
