Judge Malik Sujhao Din granted bail to Khetran on the basis of lack of evidence and ordered him to submit surety bonds worth Rs1 million.

Khetran, who is the provincial minister for communication and works, was arrested last month on the charge of killing three people. The case had began after three bodies were found in a well close to Khetran’s residence in Barkhan.

The case had sparked outrage and protests after it was alleged that Khetran had allegedly kept the victims in a private jail on his property.

The news of the killings had even led to multiple sit-ins, the largest of them being in Quetta. Protestors had travelled with the body from Barkhan and said the protest would continue until Khetran was brought to justice.

However, the case took multiple turns as Khan Mohammad Marri claimed that the bodies belonged to his children. However, his children were later recovered alive from a different location and the three original bodies remain unidentified.

The minister has denied the existence of a private jail and his lawyer told reporters that no claims against him could be substantiated.