PESHAWAR, Oct 11: A pre-arrest bail petition of NWFP Health Minister Inayatullah Khan and his brother Anwarullah Khan was dismissed by an additional district and sessions judge in a murder case in Nowshera on Wednesday.

In the afternoon, the minister filed a pre-arrest bail petition before the Peshawar High Court, which will be taken up for hearing on Thursday.

Soon after the court presided over by Ashfaq Taj Khan pronounced the order, the two were taken into custody by Nowshera police and handed over to the crimes branch police, who have been investigating the case. However, the crimes branch police later denied the minister’s arrest.

“We took the minister into custody and handed him over to the crimes branch. I am not sure what happened later on,” said an official of Nowshera police.

An official of the crimes branch said it had not arrested the minister and he had slipped away from the court.

The minister told journalists that he had not been arrested.

The minister and his brother, a former MPA, have been charged by their relative Hayat Khan with killing his father Jehanzeb Khan in Azakhel area on Sept 2.

The complainant alleged that he had a property dispute with the accused. He alleged that two assassins hired by the accused had shot his father dead.

Advocate Syed Attique Shah appeared for the complainant and contended that the dispute between the two parties was established on record and it was a genuine motive for intentional murder.

Tariq Afridi and Mian Zakirullah appeared for the accused and contended that there was no evidence on record which could prove that the assassins had been hired by the accused. The court pronounced that the accused were not entitled to the facility of pre-arrest bail.