QUETTA, Sept 29: Balochistan Chief Minister Nawab Mohammad Aslam Raisani has ordered the withdrawal of eight cases registered against veteran nationalist leader Nawab Khair Bakhsh Marri and his son Nawabzada Hyrbiar Marri.

“The provincial home department has issued a notification about the withdrawal of cases against them after the chief minister approved it,” a senior official told Dawn on Monday.

Sources said that there were nine cases against the Baloch leader and his son, including a murder case of Justice Nawaz Marri.

“Eight cases have been drooped while the murder case of the judge has not been withdrawn so far.”

The decision was taken by the chief minister after a series of meetings with authorities in Islamabad.

The sources said that in four cases Nawab Marri had been awarded a five-year jail term by an anti-terrorism court after he failed to appear before it.

However, during the prosecution, the government had failed to prove charges against him, leading to his acquittal on Feb 2, 2005.

The chief minister, in exercise of his power under CRPC-401, remitted the five-year sentence.

Justice Marri was gunned down on Jan 7, 2000, in Quetta. Police had registered a case against Nawab Marri and arrested him on Jan 12. He remained in jail for 18 months and was later released on bail. Police had also registered cases against the nationalist leader and his son for alleged involvement in bomb blasts and kidnapping of Afghan national Khan Mohammad.

Nawab Marri now lives in Karachi and Hyrbiar Marri in London.

Nawabzada Gazin Marri, another son of Nawab Marri, said the former government had implicated his father and brother in false cases.