Aqil Akhtar Case: Amid the investigation into the alleged murder of Aqil Akhtar, the son of former Punjab Director General of Police (DGP) Mohammad Mustafa, the retired IPS officer on Friday denied any wrongdoing. He said that registering an FIR does not automatically prove guilt and that the investigation would reveal the truth. “The real investigation will begin now, and in a few days, the truth will come out before the public,” he said, as quoted by HT.
Mustafa also alleged political motives behind the FIR, calling it “dirty politics and cheap thinking,” and warned that those filing baseless complaints should be ready to face the law.
Haryana Police had registered an FIR against former Punjab Director General of Police (DGP) Mohammad Mustafa and his wife, former minister Razia Sultana, in connection with the death of their 35-year-old son, Aqil Akhtar. The FIR was filed following social media posts and videos related to Aqil’s death, which prompted a complaint from Shamshudeen Chaudhary of Malerkotla, Punjab.
Aqil was found unconscious at his home in Sector 4, Panchkula, and was declared dead at a hospital. Initially, police ruled out foul play and handed over the body to the family after conducting a post-mortem. The case gained attention after the social media posts, leading to the formal complaint and FIR registration.
Denying the allegations, Mustafa said his son had been a drug addict for nearly two decades. “He died after injecting buprenorphine in overdose as per the initial police probe. For 18 years since 2007, we were getting him treated for addiction including at PGIMER Chandigarh, but he would relapse. He had even set our house on fire once,” the DGP said, quoted by The Indian Express.
“He was into drugs since he was studying in Class 10 at Welham Boys School in Dehradun and was expelled from multiple schools in Chandigarh. Since 2007, we had been getting him treated for addiction, but he would relapse. Due to psychosis, he had started imagining things. He harassed his wife and mother for money for drugs and had even set our house on fire once. We had filed police complaints against him multiple times at Panchkula but would retract considering he was our blood,” Mustafa added, quoted by HT.
A Special Investigation Team (SIT) headed by an ACP-rank officer has been formed to investigate the case thoroughly. “The SIT will investigate with an open mind and without prejudice, ensuring no guilty person is spared and no innocent person suffers,” Panchkula deputy commissioner of Police Srishti Gupta said.
