CBI books Punjab ex-DGP, his ex-minister wife for murder over son’s death

Besides Mustafa and Sultana, the CBI has booked Akhtar’s wife and sister under sections 103(1) (murder) and 61 (criminal conspiracy) of BNS, 2023.

The agency said Akhtar had posted a video on social media on August 27, alleging that his entire family, including his mother and sister, were conspiring to kill him or to implicate him in a false case.

A case was initially registered at Mansa Devi Complex police station in Panchkula on October 20 following a complaint filed by one Shamshuddin Chaudhary of Malerkotla, Punjab, alleging foul play in Akhtar’s death. Shamshuddin claimed that he was a neighbour of Mustafa.

The Haryana government had on October 22 transferred the probe into the FIR to the CBI.

Akhtar, was found dead at his Sector 4 residence in Panchkula on October 16. Initial medical reports suggested a suspected ‘overdose of medicines’. Following an autopsy, his body was cremated at the family’s ancestral village of Harda Kheri in Uttar Pradesh’s Saharanpur district.

Later, a video purportedly recorded by Akhtar surfaced online. In the video, he purportedly levelled serious allegations against his father, mother, sister and wife, accusing them of harassment and conspiring against him, and claiming a threat to his life. Citing the video, Shamshuddin Chaudhary, filed a complaint with the Haryana Police, alleging that the death was not accidental but part of a conspiracy. The Panchkula police subsequently registered the FIR and the probe was entrusted to a special investigation team, headed by ACP Vikram Nehra.

However, in another purported video, which surfaced later, Akhtar said he had alleged “many things in the video posted earlier” due to “schizophrenia” and that he was “blessed with a good family”.

Mustafa has denied the allegations against him and his family members and said his son, who was a drug addict since 2007, turned “psychotic” and developed severe mental illness.