An anti-terrorism court (ATC) on Thursday granted bail to Balochistan MPA Majeed Khan Achakzai in the case concerning the killing of a traffic sergeant in Quetta last June in a traffic incident, court authorities said.
After
Achakzai was produced before the court amidst tight security, ATC judge
Dawood Khan Nasar ordered the defendant's counsel to submit a Rs500,000
surety bond to secure their client's release — a requirement that was
immediately met.
"My client is likely to be released by tomorrow," Achakzai's attorney Noor Jahan Buledi later told DawnNews.
Achakzai
is the main accused in the death of traffic sergeant Haji Attaullah,
who was run over by the legislator's speeding vehicle in the GPO Chowk
area of Quetta earlier this year.
Local police had,
however, initially registered a case against 'unknown individuals' — but
after a widely-circulated video of the incident identified the vehicle
as belonging to Achakzai, law enforcement agencies moved promptly to
arrest him.
The Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party politician
was produced in front of a judicial magistrate a week after the
incident, after which he was remanded to police custody.
Prior
to his remand, however, Achakzai had 'confessed' to his involvement in
the accident and claimed to have agreed to compensate the family members
of the slain traffic policeman.
The bail secured is the second relief Achakzai has received in a span of a week, as days ago he was acquitted in a vehicle tampering case related to the same incident.
