Former Punjab Director General of Police (DGP) Mohammad Mustafa and his wife, former minister Razia Sultana, have been booked on murder and criminal conspiracy charges after their 35-year-old son, Aqil Akhtar Mustafa, was found dead under mysterious circumstances.
The case has taken a dramatic turn following the emergence of a video in which Aqil, a practising lawyer, alleged that his family was plotting to kill him and accused his father of having an affair with his wife.
Aqil was found dead at the family’s residence in Panchkula on October 16. While the family maintained that he died of a drug overdose, the allegations made in the viral video prompted the registration of a case of murder.
FIR registered after complaint citing ‘foul play’
According to Panchkula DCP Shristi Gupta, an FIR was registered on October 20 under Sections 103(1) (murder) and 61 (criminal conspiracy) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) at the MDC Police Station, based on a complaint filed by Shamshuddin Chaudhary, a resident of Malerkotla, the Mustafa family’s hometown.
“In view of the complaint and contents of social media posts, an FIR has been registered, and a special investigation team (SIT) led by an ACP-rank officer will probe all aspects of the case,” DCP Gupta said.
She added, “The investigation shall be conducted with an open mind and without any prejudice, ensuring that no guilty person is spared and no innocent person suffers.”
Allegations of affair and conspiracy
The complaint states that Aqil had shared a 16-minute video on August 27, in which he accused his father of having an illicit relationship with his wife and claimed that his family—including his mother and sister—was conspiring to kill him or implicate him in a false case.
In the video, Aqil alleged that after discovering the affair in 2018, he was detained by his family, falsely accused, and forcibly admitted to a rehabilitation centre despite being “completely clean.”
He also purportedly mentioned that his mother and sister discussed “making some arrangements” for him and leaving a suicide note in his diary in case of his death. Police have not yet recovered any such note.
The complainant said the lawyer’s sudden death “confirmed his apprehensions,” adding that it was “clearly a case of foul play.”
Political and family background
A 1985-batch IPS officer, Mohammad Mustafa retired as DGP (Punjab State Human Rights Commission) in February 2021. He was once considered close to former Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh, but later became an ally of Navjot Singh Sidhu after being overlooked for the DGP post.
Razia Sultana, his wife, is a senior Congress leader and three-time MLA from Malerkotla. She served as a cabinet minister in both Amarinder Singh’s and Charanjit Singh Channi’s governments between 2017 and 2022. She lost her seat to AAP’s Mohammad Zamil Ur Rehman in the 2022 Assembly election.
Apart from Mustafa and Sultana, Aqil’s wife and sister have also been named as accused in the FIR.
Police begin investigation
Police officials said that no foul play was suspected initially when Aqil’s death was reported. “A post-mortem examination was conducted, and the body was handed over to the family for last rites,” DCP Gupta said.
However, after reviewing the video and complaint, police decided to initiate a full investigation. The SIT will now examine digital evidence, phone records, and statements of all family members.
As of now, neither Mustafa nor Razia Sultana has issued a public statement. ThePrint reported that messages sent to the former DGP for comment have not yet received a response