QUETTA: The Supreme Court on Monday rejected a petition filed by former president General (retd) Pervez Musharraf to move the hearing of the Nawab Akbar Bugti case from Quetta to Islamabad.

A three-judge bench of the apex court headed by Justice Nasirul Mulk heard the request filed by the former president.

Advocate Qamar Afzal was representing Musharraf in the court and the request was filed on grounds of threats to the former president’s security.

Musharraf is currently under house arrest in Islamabad, guarded by an army of 300 policeman paramilitary personnel, soldiers, snipers and anti-terrorist officers.

Baloch nationalist leader Akbar Khan Bugti was killed in a cave on August 26, 2006 during a military crackdown ordered by Musharraf who was president and army chief at the time.

Bugti had led an armed campaign to press for provincial autonomy and a greater share of profits from Balochistan’s natural resources. The death of the Baloch chieftain sparked angry protests in the country.