CHANDIGARH: Haryana Police on Tuesday booked former Punjab Director General of Police (DGP) Mohammad Mustafa, his wife and former minister Razia Sultan, along with their daughter and daughter-in-law on charges of murder and criminal conspiracy in connection with the death of their 35-year-old son Aqil Akhter.
Akhter, an advocate at the Punjab and Haryana High Court and a resident of Sector 4 in MDC of Panchkula, was found dead at his residence on October 16. A police complaint was lodged on October 17.
The Police registered an FIR on October 17 under sections 103 (1) (punishment for murder) and 61 (criminal conspiracy) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita at the MDC police station in Panchkula, based on the complaint of Shamshudeen Chaudhary, a resident of Malerkotla, and social media posts of Aqil which contained serious allegations against his family members and apprehensions about a threat to his life.
Chaudhary also shared a screenshot of a diary and lodged a written complaint with the Panchkula Police, state DGP and Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini, demanding a fair and impartial investigation.
"A Special Investigation Team (SIT) has been formed under Assistant Commissioner of Police to ensure a thorough, impartial and evidence-based probe without any prejudice, with the aim of ensuring that no guilty person is spared and no innocent person suffers,’’ said Deputy Commissioner of Police Srishti Gupta.
Gupta said that when Akhter was found unconscious at their residence the family informed the police and he was immediately rushed to Civil Hospital in Sector 6, where he was declared brought dead. The police recorded their statements and did not suspect any foul play. The body was handed over to the family after the post-mortem. His last rites were performed at their ancestral village, Harda Kheri in Saharanpur of Uttar Pradesh.
"Then subsequently there were some purportedly viral posts and videos made by the deceased alleging apprehensions to his life and personal disputes,’’ she said. As per the police, his viscera samples have been sent for forensic examination to identify which substance was consumed by the deceased. The report is expected to come in two to three months.
Akhter is survived by his wife, who is a homemaker, a five-year-old son and a seven-year-old daughter. His father, Mohammad Mustafa, is a 1985 batch IPS officer who retired from the Punjab Police in 2021 and later joined the Congress. His mother, Razia Sultana, was a former minister in the Congress Government and was elected three times as an MLA from Malerkotla.
