Who is Shamshudin Chaudhary, the complainant who has put Punjab ex-DGP, ex-MLA wife in the spotlight?

The criminal complaint against Punjab’s former Director General of Police (DGP) Mohammad Mustafa and his wife, ex-MLA Razia Sultana, over their son’s death has thrust the complainant, Shamshudin Chaudhary, into an unaccustomed spotlight. As per a report by The Indian Express, Chaudhary is said to be a figure well-known in Malerkotla’s political circles as a frequent party switcher, whose past affiliations are now a central part of the controversy.

Chaudhary, who describes himself as a cattle feed trader, is the man on whose complaint the Haryana Police registered an FIR, leading to the high-profile couple being booked for the alleged murder of their 35-year-old son, Aqil Akhtar. Akhtar was found dead at his Panchkula residence on October 16.

In his complaint, Chaudhary has demanded a comprehensive investigation into the death, citing a purported video on Akhtar’s social media where he levelled personal allegations against his parents and wife and claimed there were “threats to his life”. The FIR, filed at the Mansa Devi Complex police station, calls for the examination of this video, call records and post-mortem reports to “ensure truth is brought to light and justice is done”. In another purported video, Akhtar later retracted his claims, attributing them to mental illness and calling his family “good”.

The political lineage of the complainant, however, has become a focal point. According to The Indian Express report, Chaudhary is known as a “party hopper” in Malerkotla, Punjab’s only Muslim-majority district. He campaigned extensively for the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) during the 2022 Assembly polls, helping its candidate, Dr Mohammad Jamil ur Rahman, defeat Razia Sultana by over 20,000 votes.

Social media posts and his Facebook page show him posing with prominent politicians, including Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and AAP MLA Rahman, as well as SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal.

This political history has drawn sharp criticism from the accused. Mustafa, a retired IPS officer, has termed Chaudhary’s complaint an example of “dirty mindset and cheap politicking”. He reportedly told The Indian Express that Chaudhary was a former “personal assistant (PA)” of AAP MLA Rahman and was “thrown out of AAP following allegations of collecting bribes and kickbacks”.

These claims are contested. MLA Rahman, in his conversation with The Indian Express, clarified that Chaudhary was never his PA but merely a party worker during the 2022 election campaign. “It has been nearly a year since we asked him to leave,” Rahman stated, adding that Chaudhary was historically a “staunch Akali” who had also been with the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) before shifting to AAP seeing their “winning wave”.

Chaudhary himself corroborates this political journey and has confirmed to The Indian Express that he was with BSP and SAD earlier. “I campaigned for AAP during the 2022 Punjab polls. I was not Rahman’s PA but only a friend,” he said.
Beyond politics, Chaudhary asserts a personal connection to the family. He claims to be a neighbour of Razia Sultana’s parents in Malerkotla’s Mohalla Khatikan, with their families sharing familiar terms of ‘bua’ (aunt) and ‘mama’ (uncle).

Chaudhary explained that he filed the case because he believed what happened to Aqil was unjust, adding that he had not made specific allegations against any individual and was solely seeking a fair investigation, according to his statements to The Indian Express.

He insisted that his political work was unrelated to the complaint. Mustafa, however, has publicly disputed the neighbourly connection, stating their house is on the town's outskirts and they have no immediate neighbours.

The complaint has ensnared a couple once celebrated as one of Punjab’s most powerful. Razia Sultana, a three-time Congress MLA from Malerkotla, served as a cabinet minister. Mustafa, after retiring, became active in Congress politics. Their political fortunes declined after Sultana’s defeat to the AAP candidate Chaudhary had supported, placing the complainant at the heart of a deeply personal and political drama.