Journalist Haroon Khan, who was gunned down outside his house in Swabi town on Thursday, was involved in an ongoing property feud with members of his family, District Police Officer (DPO) Mohammad Sohaib told DawnNews on Friday.

The Swabi journalist was a correspondent for Waqt News TV and was earlier affiliated with Akhbar-i-Khaiber and Mashriq TV.

According to BBC Urdu, the Taliban had claimed the attack on the journalist and alleged that Khan was a member of an intelligence agency.

The police in the area, however, are carrying out a separate investigation into Khan's murder.

While speaking to DawnNews, the DPO added that Khan's family members ─ two cousins who he was involved in a property dispute with ─ had fled the area after the former was killed.

DPO Sohaib added that Khan's cousins are being investigated as the prime suspects in the journalist's killing. The police will attempt to extract more information from the cousins once they are arrested, the DPO said.