NEW DELHI: Former Punjab DGP Mohammad Mustafa, now at the centre of a murder and conspiracy probe along with his wife, former minister Razia Sultana, has rejected allegations that they were involved in the death of their son.Speaking to reporters in Saharanpur, the retired IPS officer made startling revelations about his late son, Aakil Akhtar, saying, “My son had been a drug addict for 18 years. I used to lock him in the room for two to three days. Got him treated at several places.” Mustafa said the family had been “grieving” since Akhtar’s death but would now “face the allegations like a soldier,” PTI quoted him saying.
“On October 16, when we entered the room, he was already dead. He was consuming excessive drugs. We knew allegations would be made, that’s why we got the post-mortem done,” he said. Mustafa added that as a former police chief, he understood the process and welcomed the registration of a case. “An SIT has been formed; everything will become clear,” he said.Panchkula DCP Srishti Gupta confirmed that an FIR has been lodged against the family under sections of murder and conspiracy. “Former DGP Mohammad Mustafa and former minister Razia Sultana’s son, Aakil Akhtar, was found dead under suspicious circumstances at his residence in MDC, Panchkula. The complainant has expressed suspicions of foul play,” Gupta said. She added that a Special Investigation Team has been set up to ensure a “scientific and transparent probe”.The FIR was registered on the basis of a complaint by Shamshuddin, who claimed that Akhtar had posted a video on social media alleging that his family might “frame him in a false case” or have him “killed”. “Their plan is to have me falsely imprisoned or even killed,” Akhtar said in the purported video, also alleging that his family dismissed his concerns as delusions.Mustafa, however, insisted that his son had been suffering from a long-term psychotic disorder and that the video was being “misused to malign the family”. “He often became violent due to his illness. In 2008, he even broke his mother’s hip, but we said she had fallen. We are public figures, so we tried to hide these matters, but now the truth must come out,” Mustafa said.He added that Akhtar had posted the video on August 27 but deleted it two hours later. “Certain individuals downloaded it and are now using it against us,” he said, terming the entire controversy a “conspiracy against a high-profile family”.The viscera report is awaited, while the SIT continues to investigate the cause of death. “The truth will come out,” Mustafa said. “I have buried the father inside me.”(With inputs from agencies)
