QUETTA: A local court in Quetta on Thursday acquitted provincial president of the Jamhoori Watan Party (JWP), Shahzain Bugti, along with three of his companions of charges of charges of carrying illegal arms.

The Additonal Session court exonerated Bugti and his fellows citing lack of evidence in the case against them.

In 2010, Bugti and his companions were taken into custody by Frontier Corps (FC) personnel on charges of carrying illegal arms in their vehicles. A sessions court had released them on bail.

However, on 28 April 2012, Bugti, along with 26 guards, was arrested again after a meeting at his residence with Balochistan Home Minister Mir Zafarullah Zehri following arrest warrants issued against him in the arms smuggling case.