AJK govt announces Rs10 million head money for information leading to arrest of four JAAC members

The Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) government on Tuesday announced a reward of Rs10 million for information leading to the arrest of four wanted individuals linked to the newly proscribed Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC).

“The president of Azad Jammu & Kashmir has been pleased to fix Rs10m reward money to be granted to any person who provides information leading to the successful arrest of the following offenders belonging to the proscribed JAAC,” said a notification.

The development emerged after fatal clashes in AJK sparked competing accounts over casualties, governance grievances and political legitimacy, with official sources confirming at least seven deaths. Last week, the AJK government banned the JAAC, accusing it of involvement in terrorism, promoting hatred, and creating anarchy in the state. The ban followed the JAAC’s call for a protest on June 9. The organisation has previously spearheaded mass protests demanding economic relief and political rights, with some demonstrations ending in violence and fatalities during confrontations with law enforcement authorities in May 2024 and September 2025.

The individuals named in the notification are Shaukat Nawaz Mir, Umar Nazir Kashmiri, Khawaja Mehran Arshad and Sardar Aman Khan. It further stated that the identity of the informant would be kept strictly confidential.

The AJK Home Department also directed the inspector general of police to take the necessary steps for the immediate implementation of the reward scheme.

Meanwhile, Syed Faisal Gilani, a key JAAC member, announced complete disassociation from the party.

In his statement, Gilani strongly condemned the attacks in Rawalakot, saying that the “JAAC was playing a festival of blood with the lives of innocent citizens.” Gilani further stated that he had become part of the JAAC for the sake of public interests, but unfortunately, it had deviated from its original path.

“The people of Azad Kashmir are rejecting the banned JAAC violent rhetoric and proving themselves to be conscious citizens,” he said.

According to the Associated Press of Pakistan (APP), law enforcement agencies conducted a targeted, intelligence-based operation in the Chehla area of Muzaffarabad, resulting in the arrest of five suspects.

​According to security sources, authorities seized laptops, mobile phones, and various communication devices during the raid.

“Initial investigations into the digital devices have already revealed suspicious links and sensitive material. ​During interrogation, information provided by one of the detainees led to the recovery of a large cache of arms, including seven automatic weapons, multiple grenades, and other military hardware.”

Sources added that maps of sensitive installations, alleged attack plans, and documents related to high-security locations were also confiscated. ​The investigators “uncovered evidence pointing to alleged contact with hostile foreign intelligence agencies”.

​As the forensic and technical analysis of the recovered digital devices and materials was currently underway, the investigators were expanding the scope of the probe to identify possible facilitators, financial backers and the broader network behind the group.

​Security sources emphasised that the timely operation successfully averted a potential threat to sensitive installations and public safety.

Reaffirming their commitment to national security, authorities vowed to maintain a zero-tolerance policy towards activities threatening state security, public order and national interests, promising strict action against all anti-state elements.

​Meanwhile, law enforcement agencies were continuing their comprehensive investigation and appealed to the public to immediately report any suspicious activity to the relevant authorities.

Separately, Kashmiri, one of the proscribed leaders, said the group’s movement was peaceful and it would prefer to emerge with honour instead of surrendering before the authorities.

The JAAC said many people from various parts of the territory were joining it for its protest call.

The group claimed that three young men were killed in Kotli while more continued to be injured.

Dialogue with JAAC

AJK Prime Minister Raja Faisal Mumtaz Rathore once again requested the JAAC to “please come back to the negotiating table”.

In a post on X, he said: “I’m requesting everyone on daily basis to resolve matters through discussions instead of fire and blood. Your abusive comments, constant threats and senseless agitation are not helpful to anyone on this side of the LOC.

“Everyone recognises your rights and liberties. No one can dictate Kashmiris on how we should resolve our issues. All we need to do is remain calm and find a way out through talks. The only weapon a political activist carries is his reasoning and negotiation skills.”

A day earlier,  he had offered to restart negotiations with the JAAC, urging protesters to return to the dialogue table.

“The people protesting in AJK are our own. No doubt about it. Agents and traitors? I don’t think so. Disillusioned? Naturally. Misguided? Surely,” he said in an X post.

“Come and sit with us. This is not a problem that can be resolved at the cost of human lives,” he said in a televised interview, adding that past negotiations had collapsed over unresolved clauses.

Rathore also acknowledged that while some protest demands, particularly related to refugee seats, require careful review, the solution must come through discussion rather than confrontation.

The recent unrest and deadly clashes in areas, including Rawalakot, where the newly proscribed JAAC had been holding a sit-in outside the Combined Military Hospital Rawalakot. AJK police allege that armed JAAC members opened fire on deployed law enforcement in a planned attack, leaving four personnel dead and around 20 injured. JAAC, however, disputes this account, claiming security forces used tear gas and fired shells toward the hospital.

According to the AJK police, three individuals linked to the JAAC and four law enforcement personnel were killed during the protests on Sunday. JAAC, however, said in a statement on X that seven individuals were killed and dozens were injured when street firing was carried out in the dark after electricity was allegedly cut off.

The clash on Sunday came as the AJK government and the JAAC witnessed a face-off, as the election date for AJK was announced for July 27.

AJK’s 53-member legislative assembly includes 12 seats reserved for Kashmiri refugees — people who fled Indian-controlled Kashmir in 1947 and 1965 and are now scattered across Pakistan. Six seats represent refugees from the Jammu division (~434,000 people) and six from the Kashmir Valley (~30,000 people) — an already lopsided arrangement that many see as unfair.

The region witnessed one of its most turbulent periods in October last year when protests led by the JAAC erupted over demands for constitutional and governance reforms. At least nine people, including three policemen, were killed during the unrest.

The JAAC, which organised the protests and strike, had presented a wide-ranging charter of demands, including an end to the privileges enjoyed by the ruling elite, the abolition of 12 assembly seats reserved for refugees, and the scrapping of the quota system.

Two days after the violence, the government and the JAAC reached an agreement covering 12 core and 13 additional points. Under the accord, both sides agreed to constitute a high-level committee to examine the issue of refugee seats in the AJK Legislative Assembly.

Read More: Four police personnel martyred, over 20 injured in Rawalakot firing: AJK police

The unrest also triggered political upheaval in the region. The PPP subsequently moved a no-confidence resolution against then prime minister Chaudhry Anwarul Haq, with the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz joining the effort. Haq, who had been elected in April 2023 with 48 votes, chose to face the vote rather than resign.

On Nov 17, Rathore secured 36 votes in the election and became the 16th prime minister of Azad Jammu and Kashmir.

With elections now approaching and the refugee seat issue still unresolved, the AJK government convened an All Parties Conference (APC) in Muzaffarabad to build consensus. Almost every major party attended — except PTI and the JAAC, who boycotted it.

The JAAC’s position is that the government had already rejected its written proposals submitted on May 30, so attending would be futile. It had proposed either keeping symbolic refugee representation until the Kashmir dispute is permanently resolved, or replacing the 12 assembly seats with 4 seats in the AJK Council — a body chaired by the Prime Minister, which it argued would better preserve the political dimension of the Kashmir cause.

The APC rejected any changes outside the constitutional and legislative framework, saying only the elected assembly could alter refugee seat arrangements. The JAAC called the resolution “a page and a half of utterly trivial lines” and accused participants of gathering to serve their own interests rather than the public’s.

The JAAC called a major protest for June 9 in Muzaffarabad, with caravans converging from across the region.

Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Dr Tariq Fazal Chaudhry on Sunday rejected claims that the agreement with the JAAC had remained unimplemented, and said the government had fulfilled the vast majority of its commitments in AJK.