MUZAFFARABAD: A personal security guard of former Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) prime minister Sardar Tanveer Ilyas was shot dead on Friday after his convoy came under fire while travelling through his native constituency via the Tain-Dhalkot area, according to officials and his aides.

Officials said that the convoy of Ilyas, who now heads the Istehkam-i-Pakistan Party (IPP) in the region, had travelled around one-and-a-half kilometres beyond the Tain-Dhalkot bridge over the Jhelum River, when unidentified assailants opened fire from the mountainside at around 1:30pm.

Muhammad Asif, a retired commando from Sudhnoti district serving as one of Ilyas’s security guards, was struck in the head after reportedly moving to shield the former premier. He was critically injured and succumbed to his injuries while being moved to a hospital in Rawalpindi.

Officials said Ilyas remained unharmed and in a video message released later in the day, he alleged that the attack had been carried out by armed members of the banned Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC), a claim that could not be independently verified.

There was no immediate response from the group to the allegation.

Tain-Dhalkot falls under LA-22 (Poonch-V), Ilyas’s native constituency. In the 2016 elections, the seat was won by his uncle, Sardar Saghir Chughtai, on a Muslim Conference ticket.

Chughtai later joined the PTI but died in a road accident days before the 2021 elections. Following his death, his widow, Shahida Saghir, contested and won the seat.

She rarely participated in the Legislative Assembly’s proceedings, while her son, Ahmed Saghir, was later appointed an adviser to the AJK government with the status of a minister.

Last year, Ahmed Saghir joined the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) along with Ilyas, but the latter recently parted ways with the party after being denied tickets from three constituencies, LA-22 (Poonch-V), LA-15 (Bagh-II) and LA-25 (Neelum-I).

He is contesting the regional elections from all three constituencies on the IPP ticket and facing Saghir in LA-22.

According to official sources, Ilyas’s staff informed the Poonch administration on Thursday night that he intended to visit LA-22 to attend meetings and offer condolences to bereaved families.

The sources added that the administration advised him against the visit due to the prevailing law-and-order situation. He was instead advised to visit LA-15 (Bagh-II).

“On his insistence, officials informed him that if he was determined to undertake the visit, he would have to do so at his own risk,” an official said on condition of anonymity.

According to the same sources, Ilyas’s staff subsequently informed the police control room that road closures were “our issue” and asked them only to convey to senior authorities that “Sardar Sahib will visit his constituency.”

In the video message, Ilyas paid tribute to his guard, and said he had sacrificed his life while shielding him and claimed that some other members of the convoy had also sustained injuries

He alleged that the same group, which had been protesting over shortages of flour and other essential commodities, was also blocking roads and holding the state’s machinery and ordinary citizens hostage.

The former premier said efforts to resolve the situation through dialogue had failed and urged the authorities to deal with those responsible “with an iron hand.”

Calling the assailants “terrorists”, he demanded a decisive operation against them, saying that, if required, the army should also play its role.

He further warned that “stones will be answered with stones and bricks with bricks” and alleged that the perpetrators were pursuing “RAW’s agenda” in the state, referring to India’s intelligence agency.

Sources close to Ilyas said he had announced compensation and a residential plot for the family of the slain guard.

Attempts to contact Ilyas’s spokesperson, Sardar Iftikhar Rasheed, were unsuccessful.