PESHAWAR, May 26: A court on Saturday extended until may 30 the pre-arrest interim bail granted to Awami National Party’s senior vice-president Haji Ghulam Ahmad Bilour, his brother MPA Bashir Bilour and Bashir’s son Haroon Bilour in the murder case of PPP leader Syed Qamar Abbas and his friend.

The complainant’s counsel requested the court — presided over by additional district and sessions judge Syed Zamurad Shah — to give them additional time for preparing the case as they had recently been hired by their clients.

The court accepted the request and fixed May 30 for the next hearing.

The complainant in the case is Syed Tahir Abbas, brother of the deceased Syed Qamar Abbas who reportedly had a decade-old animosity with the Bilour family.

The three applicants were granted a pre-arrest interim bail on May 12 by the district and sessions judge Miftauddin Khan, who directed them to appear before the court on May 19. Their bail was extended on May 19 as the complainant had not engaged a counsel by that time.

On Saturday morning, a large number of PPP and ANP workers were present outside the district court in support of their respective leaders. A huge contingent of police was also present there to avert a possible clash between the two groups.

A panel of advocates, comprising Barrister Zahoorul Haq, Abdul Lateef Afridi, Asadullah Chamkani and Ishtiaq Ibraheem, has been representing the applicants. Senior advocates Khwaja Sultan, Imdad Hussain Adil and Bashir Khan Tanghi appeared for the complainant.