MARDAN (HRNW) Four men have been arrested in Mardan for destroying a 1,700-year-old Buddha statue.
A video of the men, construction workers, destroying the statue with hammers went viral on social media, prompting the KP police to spring into action.
The men found the statue while digging in Takhtbhai. The contractor, Qamar Zaman, Amjad, Aleem and Suleman have been arrested and an FIR registered against them under the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Antiquities Act, 2016.
They have been booked under sections 18 (Prohibition of destruction, damage, etc to protected antiquity or important antiquity), 24 (Destruction, damage, etc), 44 (Destruction or damage and treatment or repair of registered antiquity), 57 (Report and instruction on excavation for construction works), 60 (Report, instruction and order on excavation for
investigation) and 63 (Regulation and issuance of licences to foreign archaeological missions) of the Act.
Section 18 carries a maximum punishment of five years and a Rs2 million fine.
Be the first to comment on "Four men arrested for destroying 1,700-year-old Buddha statue in Mardan"