One police officer killed, over 100 injured in clashes during protest in Pok

NEW DELHI: One police officer was killed and over 100 individuals, primarily law enforcement personnel, sustained injuries during intense confrontations between

security forces

and demonstrators protesting against the elevated costs of wheat flour and electricity in

Pakistan-occupied Kashmir

, according to media reports on Sunday. The disputed territory experienced

clashes

on Saturday between the police and activists of a rights movement, coinciding with a wheel-jam and shutter-down strike across the region, as reported by the Dawn newspaper.

Mirpur Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Kamran Ali informed Dawn.com that sub-inspector Adnan Qureshi succumbed to a gunshot wound in the chest while deployed with other police personnel in the town of Islamgarh to prevent a rally headed towards Muzaffarabad via Kotli and Poonch districts, organized by the Jammu Kashmir Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC).
In the days leading up to the planned long march towards Muzaffarabad on Saturday, around 70 JAAC activists were arrested by police during raids at their residences and those of their relatives in Muzaffarabad and Mirpur divisions, sparking serious clashes in Dadyal on Thursday. The committee subsequently called for a shutter-down and wheel-jam strike on Friday.
Amidst a crippling strike on Friday, violent clashes erupted between police and protesters in various areas of Muzaffarabad, the capital of PoK. On Saturday, authorities placed mounds of earth on arteries leading to Muzaffarabad and made additional arrests to prevent people from reaching the state capital.

SSP Yasin Baig stated that at least one police officer and a young boy were injured as police resorted to teargas shelling and aerial firing in some neighborhoods after protesters pelted stones and bottles. Kotli SSP Mir Muhammad Abid reported that at least 78 policemen were injured in the district during "attacks of miscreants under the guise of

protest

."
According to a press release from the District Headquarters Hospital Kotli, apart from the 59 wounded policemen, nine injured protesters were also brought in for treatment. SSP Abid mentioned that some police officials were also reportedly injured in Doliya Jattan.
"The government held negotiations with the Awami Action Committee (AAC) and we reached to an agreement which we are determined to implement," Geo News quoted Haq as saying.
(With inputs from agencies)