Aqil’s Death & Bhullar’s Arrest Highlight Rot in Police

On 16 Oct, Aqil Akhtar, son of former Panjab Director General of Police Mohammad Mustafa and former Panjab Indian National Congress minister Razia Sultana was found dead in his home in Panchkula. In a social media post on 3 Oct, Aqil, had shared a picture of a diary and written, 'In case I die, this diary has my dying declaration. And I must be checked for aluminum phosphide poisoning.' The diary has now been found and the head of the Special Investigation Team, Assistant Commissioner of Police Vikram Nehra said, 'Some things are written in the diary, and we are investigating them...many notes are written on different dates’ and that certain items found at the scene ‘prima facie seem to be related to drugs.’ These items have been sent to the Forensic Science Laboratory for examination. Mustafa who led Panjab’s fight against drugs as head of the Special Task Force in 2018, says his greatest battle was not in the field but within his own home. Mustafa said, 'I could deal with terrorists (referring to days of militancy), but not my addict son. In the last 18 years, we lived through hell.' Human rights organization Ensaaf lists Mustafa responsible for 18 cases of abduction or disappearance and/or extrajudicial killings in the early 1990s. This case and the arrest of Deputy Inspector General Harcharan Singh Bhullar by the Central Bureau of Investigation on 17 Oct has highlighted other corruption cases involving Panjab Police. In early 2024, Deputy Superintendent of Police Vavinder Mahajan, previously hailed for busting a pharmaceutical drug smuggling ring, turned fugitive after being booked for taking a USD 51K bribe from a suspect in the same case. In August 2024, Assistant Commissioner of Police Nirdosh Kaur from Ludhiana’s Women’s Cell was arrested alongside her aide Beant Singh for demanding USD 680 in bribes to resolve a matrimonial dispute. In February 2024, two Assistant Sub-Inspectors (ASIs) were caught in separate Vigilance Bureau traps. ASI Chattar Singh accepted USD 113 to shield a woman from a false theft charge, while ASI Narata Ram took USD 90 to release an impounded vehicle (earlier coverage).

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