QUETTA, Aug 28: A division bench of Balochistan High Court granted bail before arrest to MNA and former interior minister Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao in the Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti murder case.

The bench comprising Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhel and Justice Ghulam Mustafa Mengal asked the applicant on Tuesday to file a security bond of Rs1 million.

The interim bail was granted till Sept 3.

The counsel for the petitioner, Advocate Umar Farooq Khan, pleaded that his client had no role in the killing of Nawab Bugti as he learnt about the death of the late leader through media.

He said the incident occurred in 2006 and the FIR had been lodged in 2009 in the relevant police station.

The counsel said that action against Nawab Bugti had been initiated on directives of former president Pervez Musharraf who at that time was the chief executive of country and chief of the army staff.

The Anti-Terrorism Court’s judge Nawaz Khan Barakzai issued non-bailable arrest warrants of Mr Sherpao and five others on Aug 15 and adjourned the hearing of the case till Sept 5.