RAWALAKOT: Azad Jammu Kashmir (AJK) police said on Thursday that eight highway police personnel on election duty had been “abducted” by the proscribed Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC).
Addressing a press conference, police spokesperson Khawar Ali Shaukat alleged that the JAAC attacked security forces deputed on election duty in the region.
“Eight highway police officials on election duty were abducted,” he said, as PTV showed their photos.
“The personnel are in the custody of JAAC and have been subjected to brutal abuse,” he said, adding that the “miscreants also threatened the families of the personnel that they would be martyred if their demands were not met”.
“I want to make it clear that
the state was not and is not weak. The state has always shown restraint,” he said, adding that violent acts for the sake of rights were not above the law.
He said that the people of the region, by participating in polls, had made it clear that they had nothing to do with the proscribed group.
He appealed to the public to disassociate themselves from the JAAC and to not get involved in acts where the state’s writ was challenged.
He also called on the JAAC to free the abducted personnel.
Published in Dawn, August 14th, 2026