‘My son was a drug addict for past 18 years, died of overdose’: Punjab ex-DGP booked for son’s murder with ex-MLA wife

“He died after injecting buprenorphine in overdose as per the initial police probe. For 18 years since 2007, he was into drugs. We were getting him treated for addiction including at PGIMER Chandigarh but he would relapse. Once he had also set our house on fire. He harassed his mother and wife under the influence of drugs. His medical treatment is a matter of record and we are ready for any probe. When I was with Punjab Police, I used all my resources to pull him out of drugs but he relapsed time and again. My son wasn’t a bad person but he had turned psychotic due to drugs. My daughter-in-law is a gem of a person who tolerated my son’s actions,” Mustafa said to The Indian Express.

The retired IPS officer is a four-time winner of President’s Police Medal for gallantry while Sultana, a Congress leader, is a three-time former MLA from Malerkotla, the only Muslim-majority district of Punjab.

Ironically, Mustafa also served as the chief of Punjab Police’s anti-drug Special Task Force (STF) in 2018.

Deputy Commissioner of Police, Panchkula, Srishti Gupta, said Akhtar, an advocate by profession, was found dead at his residence on October 16 and his family members informed the police following which their statements were recorded.

On October 20, an FIR under Sections 103 (1) (murder) and 61 (criminal conspiracy) was registered at Mansa Devi Complex police station in Panchkula after one Shamshudin Chaudhary of Malerkotla, Punjab, in a complaint, alleged foul play in Akhtar’s death. In his complaint, Shamshudin cited a video in which Akhtar had levelled serious allegations against his family. In the purported video, Akhtar said that he feels that his family “will frame me in a false case… Their plan is to have me falsely imprisoned or even killed”. He also alleged that his family members often told him that he was delusional and was hallucinating. “They are trying to establish a false narrative,” he alleged.

However, in another recent purported video, Akhtar said, “I had posted a video earlier, in which I said many things. It was due to my mental illness… I am blessed with such a good family.”

DCP Gupta said initially no foul play was suspected and the body was handed over to the family for last rites after a post-mortem examination. “Subsequently, certain social media posts and videos surfaced, purportedly made by the deceased prior to his death, alleging personal disputes and apprehensions about threats to his life. On October 17, a complaint was received from Shamshudin Chaudhary alleging foul play,” she said, adding an FIR was registered and an SIT, under the supervision of an ACP-rank officer, constituted to conduct a “deep and scientific probe into all aspects surrounding the case”.

Mustafa said that Shamshudin was a former “personal assistant (PA)” of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA from Malerkotla, Mohammad Jamil ur Rahman. “Chaudhary was thrown out of AAP following allegations of collecting bribe and kickbacks,” said Mustafa.

Speaking to The Indian Express, MLA Rahman said that “Chaudhary worked with AAP during my election campaign in 2022 but it has been nearly a year since we had asked him to leave”.

Chaudhary confirmed that he campaigned for AAP during 2022 Punjab Assembly elections. “I was not MLA Rahman’s PA but a friend. We have old ties with Razia Sultana’s family. I filed this case as I felt that what happened with Aqil was wrong. I haven’t made any allegations against anyone and I only want a fair probe based on the video recorded by the deceased. I being associated with AAP has nothing to do with this case”.

Akhtar’s last rites were held at his ancestral village, Harda Kheri, in Uttar Pradesh’s Saharanpur. As per the police, the viscera samples have been sent to the forensic department to identify the substance consumed by the deceased, but the report is expected to take two to three months.

Mustafa, meanwhile, cited the initial police probe and said Akhtar died of overdose after injecting buprenorphine. “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,” said Mustafa, speaking to The Indian Express.

Mustafa, who retired as Punjab DGP (Human Rights) in 2021, said that for years, the family had been battling with Aqil’s “drug addiction”. “We tried to keep things confined in the four walls of the house but for how long? Due to his actions, we got a house on rent for his family where his wife lives with their two children. My grandson (Aqil’s son) went into depression seeing how his mother was tortured by my son. Those raising a finger at my daughter-in-law have no idea what all she has been through,” he said, adding his son’s de-addiction treatment is a matter of record and “we are ready for a probe.

“My son had also attacked my security team and gunmen and they had left the work. Once he had also attacked cops in Chandigarh. My son was addicted to psychotropic drugs and later he had also shifted to soft drugs. Some time ago, some peddlers gave him ICE drug and he relapsed again. He would not even remember the date or time of when he would record a particular video and would later retract his words after some hours. He would also torture his mother asking for money for drugs and had set house on fire,” said Mustafa.

Sultana, whom AAP’s Rahman had defeated in 2022, along with her daughter Nishat Akhtar, also a Congress leader, put out statements on their official Facebook pages. The mother-daughter duo in their statement said: “A case has been registered against our family on the complaint of a person who has a dirty mindset and low politicking. According to ex-DGP Mustafa and as per rules, if police receive any complaint, then it becomes the duty of police to register an FIR but that does not mean any offence has been proven. Now, a probe will actually start and the truth will be out in front of people. It is true that we have been devastated by the death of our young son but that doesn’t mean we won’t fight this dirty politicking.”

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