KARACHI: Relatives of one of the four suspected militants killed in what was described by Malir police as an encounter in Shah Latif Town on Jan 13 disputed on Wednesday the claims and alleged that the deceased was taken away from his shop in Sohrab Goth and had no association with the banned Tehreek Taliban Pakistan (TTP).

The four men, including Naq­eebullah Mehsud, were gun­ned down in a ‘police encounter’ in the Usman Khaskheli Goth.

Mehsud’s family members app­roached the Chhipa Wel­fare Association and received his body on Wednesday.

On condition of anonymity, one of Mehsud’s relatives said he was allegedly taken away by plain-clothes men from his shop in Sohrab Goth earlier in January. Previously, he used to work at a petrol pump in Hub, Balochistan, and had no association with any militant outfit.

He showed several pictures of the deceased to Dawn and added that he was more interested in artist work than in militancy.

However, SSP Rao Anwar Ahmed said that Mehsud was definitely involved in terrorism. He was the brother-in-law of Sher Dawood, the commander of TTP who motivated him to join the banned group.

The senior police officer said that Mehsud got weapons training in 2007-08 at a TTP camp at Miramshah. He remained associated with TTP commander Sanaullah Mehsud.

Published in Dawn, January 18th, 2018