PESHAWAR, May 30: A local court on Wednesday confirmed the pre-arrest bail of Awami National Party’s senior vice-president Haji Ghulam Ahmad Bilour, his brother and MPA, Bashir Ahmad Bilour and Mr Bashir’s son Haroon Bilour who were charged with the killing of People’s Party Parliamentarian’s provincial vice-president Syed Qamar Abbas and his friend.

The additional district and sessions judge, Syed Zamurad Shah, announced the order after both parties had completed their arguments in the case.

The complainant, Syed Tahir Abbas, brother of the deceased Syed Qammar Abbas, had a decade-long enmity with the Bilour family.

The complainant had held the three brothers, Haji Ghulam Ahmad Bilour, a former federal minister, Senator Ilyas Ahmad Bilour and Bashir Ahmad Bilour, and Bashir’s sons Haroon and Usman Bilour responsible for the killing of Mr Qamar Abbas and his friend, Muhammad Ali on May 6 in Peshawar.

A panel of lawyers comprising Barrister Zahoorul Haq, Abdul Lateef Afridi, Asadullah Chamkani and Ishtiaq Ibraheem appeared on behalf of the applicants and contended that it was a case of no evidence. They said that the attack was made during night time and there were no eye-witnesses to the incident. The counsel said the plea that the applicants had an old enmity with the family of the deceased did not tantamount to evidence.

The complainant’s panel headed by Barrister Masood Kausar contended that the applicants were directly charged in the FIR, adding that the applicants had a very clear motive for killing Mr Abbas.

A big contingent of police was deputed in the court premises to avoid any possible clashes between the workers of two parties who had turned up in large numbers. Other litigants and visitors faced inconvenience as police did not allow them to enter the court area until proceedings of the case had ended. Mr Qamar Abbas and his two body guards had been charged with the murder of Shabir Ahmad Bilour, the lone son of Haji Ghulam Ahmad Bilour, during general elections in 1997. He was acquitted by the trial court, but till his death no compromise had been reached between the two families.