AJK police chief replaced following violent protests
- By Web Desk -
- May 18, 2024
ISLAMABAD: The federal government on Friday replaced the Inspector General of Police (IGP) for Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) days after violent protests against high electricity bills and flour, ARY News reported.
According to a notification issued by the Establishment Division, Abdul Jabbar, a BS-20 officer currently serving in the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), had replaced Dr Sohail Habib Tajik, a BS-20 officer of the Police Service of Pakistan (PSP).
Abdul Jabbar had been transferred and placed at the disposal of the Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) government for his posting as the IGP.
Azad Kashmir witnessed violent clashes between the police and activists of a rights movement amid a wheel-jam and shutter-down strike across the territory, which left at least one police official dead and several others injured.
Sub-inspector Adnan Qureshi succumbed to a gunshot wound in the chest in the town of Islamgarh, where he was deployed to stop a rally for Muzaffarabad under the banner of the Jammu Kashmir Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC).
The JAAC, which has traders at the forefront in most parts of the state, had sought the provision of electricity as per hydropower generation cost in AJK, subsidised wheat flour and an end to the privileges of the elite class.
The violent protesters damaged multiple vehicles, including a magistrate’s car at the Poonch-Kotli road. Moreover, markets, trade centres, offices and schools and restaurants remained closed across the AJK.
Later on May 14, the action committee ended protests in AJK against soaring inflation after the government accepted their demands.
The committee called off protests after Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif announced Rs23 billion subsidy package for the people of AJK. “The government accepted all the demands of the protesters yesterday,” the AAC said in a statement.
Meanwhile, the federal government also replaced Deputy Inspector-General (DIG) Operations Islamabad and transferred him to Federal Investigation Agency.