Azad Jammu and Kashmir Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Raja Akmal said on Friday that authorities received reports of firing on the convoy of former AJK prime minister Sardar Tanveer Ilyas in the region’s Bagh district.
Ilyas’ spokesperson said one of his guards was killed and others were injured in the attack, the DIG added.
The police officer said that further investigations were underway and action would be taken against those responsible for the firing.
This incident came ahead of the July 27 elections for the region’s 53-member Legislative Assembly.
Earlier this month, Ilyas announced his decision to join the Istehkam-e-Pakistan Party (IPP) following a meeting with IPP President Abdul Aleem Khan and State Minister for Overseas Pakistanis Awn Choudhary.
The development comes after Tanveer Ilyas Khan resigned from the primary membership of Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP-AJK chapter) after days of unsuccessful negotiations over election tickets, a development that political observers have described as a setback for the party ahead of the July-27 AJK general elections, The News reported on Wednesday.
A surge in violence is also seen in the region linked to ongoing sit-ins and protests being organised by the banned Jammu Kashmir Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC).
The AJK government on June 5 declared the JAAC a proscribed organisation under the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA), saying the group was engaged in terrorism.
The ban was imposed days ahead of the banned outfit’s planned June 9 protest seeking the abolition of 12 seats in the AJK reserved for refugees from Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) who migrated to Pakistan after 1947.
