KARACHI: An antiterrorism court has dismissed an application seeking grant of postarrest bail to an alleged gangster facing trial in the Arshad Pappu murder case.

Uzair Baloch, the alleged Lyari kingpin, along with a former Pakistan Peoples Party lawmaker Shahjahan Baloch, MuhammadYousuf, Javed Baloch, Zubair Baloch, Zakir alias Dada and Akram Baloch have been charged with murdering their rival Arshad Pappu, his brother Arafat and an aide Jumma Shera in 2013.

When the matter came up before the ATC-X judge, who is conducting the trial in the judicial complex inside the central prison, accused Zakir Dada moved an application seeking grant of post-arrest bail.

His counsel argued that the applicant was behind bars for a long time while other coaccused in the same case had been granted bail by the court. He argued that prolonged incarceration of his client infringed his constitutional rights of freedom and pleaded to grant him post-arrest bail, undertaking that he would neither abscond from the court nor would misuse granted bail.