PESHAWAR: The proscribed Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) militant organisation said on Sunday that the release of former Vice-Chancellor Islamia College University (ICU) Peshawar, Professor Ajmal Khan,was linked to the release of arrested head of banned Tehrik Nifaz-i-Shariat-i-Muhammadi (TNSM), Maulana Sufi Muhammad, DawnNews reported.

Prof. Ajmal Khan is in Taliban captivity since September 7, 2010 when he was kidnapped along with his driver at gunpoint from Professor Colony in University of Peshawar.

His driver was released two years later.

The Taliban announcement comes as one of the first developments to have taken place after Fazluulah took charge of the outlawed outfit vowing revenge for the killing of the group's leader Hakimullah Mehsud in a US drone strike.

Maulana Sufi Mohammad is the father-in-law of the newly appointed leader of the Pakistani Taliban, Maulana Fazlullah aka Mullah Radio.

He was arrested by authorities in 2009 and was tried for various cases related to conspiring against the state, attempting murder, rioting and stopping government employees from performing duty.