Shahbaz Taseer slams media reports claiming his captor was killed

Shahbaz Taseer, son of slain Punjab governor Salman Taseer, has rebutted media reports claiming his captor was killed in an encounter with law enforcement personnel.

Media reports claimed Shahbaz Taseer’s alleged kidnapper and five other suspected militants were killed in an ‘encounter’ with a team of the Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) near Sheikhupura late on Saturday night.

Taseer took to Twitter to respond to the 'false' media reports:

Reports quoted a CTD spokesperson as saying they had received intel on the whereabouts of around 10 members of the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), who were present in Sheikh­upura, planning an attack on the offices of law enforcement agencies. At around 12:30am, the CTD team raided a house near the Sheikhupura Bypass. “Noticing their presence, the terrorists...tried to flee by a car and two motorcycles.”

The CTD team intercepted and exchanged fire with the group which resulted in six militant casualties. “When the shootout ended, six of the terrorists were dead and the rest had fled,” the spokesperson said.

A senior police official requesting anonymity informed that the CTD’s investigation team had identified one of the deceased as Haji Muhammad alias Pathan, who was accused of being involved in the abduction of Shahbaz Taseer. "Pathan belonged to two banned organisations — TTP and the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan," he added.

Shahbaz Taseer was recovered on March 8, nearly five years after his abduction on August 26, 2011 from Lahore.