Bugti murder case: Sherpao granted pre-arrest bail

QUETTA: The Balochistan High Court accepted on Tuesday a pre-arrest bail plea submitted by former interior minister Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao in the Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti murder case, against the surety of Rs1 million. An Anti-Terrorism Court had issued arrest warrants for Sherpao in Bugti’s murder case. During Teusday’s proceedings, Sherpao’s counsel Advocate Prof Muhammad Umer Farooq argued that his client had no knowledge of Bugti’s murder and, in fact, came to know about the operation through media reports. He added that Sherpao had recorded his statement with an investigation officer and reiterated that his client neither had a direct role in the operation nor did he give any approval for it. At this point, Sherpao told the court he was named in the FIR as he was a member of the former federal cabinet. The court accepted his pre-arrest bail against a surety of Rs 1 million and asked him to appear before the court during next hearing on September 3.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 29^th, 2012.