Chandigar: Former Punjab Police chief Mohammad Mustafa has termed as “completely false” all allegations made against him and his family in connection with the death of his son, Aqeel Akhtar. Addressing the media in Chandigarh on Wednesday Mustafa said he welcomed the FIR registered against him and his wife, former Punjab minister Razia Sultana, asserting that the investigation would “bring out the truth.”
A case has been registered in Haryana’s Panchkula against Mustafa, a retired 1985-batch IPS officer, and Sultana in connection with the death of their 35-year-old son on October 16. Akhtar’s wife and sister have also been named in the FIR. The family had initially claimed that Akhtar died due to a drug overdose, and his body was later cremated at their ancestral village, Harda Kheri, near Saharanpur.
Responding to serious allegations made by Akhtar in a video released before his death, Mustafa said his son had been suffering from a mental disorder for nearly 18 years and was also battling drug addiction. “He was often violent because of his illness,” Mustafa said, adding that the family had endured this distress for years. “His condition had deteriorated so much that he could not understand what he was saying or doing,” he said.
Mustafa also claimed that Aqeel once broke his mother’s back in 2008, but the family had concealed the incident to protect their privacy. “We are public figures, so we tried to hide these matters, but now the truth should come out,” he said.
The former DGP said the controversial video was uploaded by his son on August 27 but deleted within two hours. “Some people downloaded it and are now misusing it to defame the family,” he alleged. Mustafa said he fully supported the formation of a Special Investigation Team (SIT) and would cooperate with the probe to “bring out the truth.”
He also denied the allegations made by Shamsuddin, a resident of Malerkotla, who lodged the complaint that led to the FIR. Mustafa alleged that “certain people” were attempting to damage his political reputation.
He further said his son’s post-mortem was conducted on his request, but the report was still awaited. In the purported video, Akhtar had claimed that he was under severe stress and feared being falsely implicated or harmed by his family, alleging that they were trying to portray him as delusional.
