Four held in KP for destroying ancient Buddha statue

PESHAWAR: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Police have arrested four men for shattering an ancient Buddha statue found during construction work in Mardan’s Takhtbhai area.

The action was taken after videos were surfaced on social media showing a man breaking a life-sized statue of Buddha with a hammer. In the video, other men can be seen looking on as the statue is being destroyed while a couple of people were making videos.

In this regard, KP director archaeology and museums Doctor Abdul Samad termed the destruction of the statue a ‘crime’ and said that disrespecting any religion is intolerable.

Later, the KP police in a tweet informed that the suspect, involved in destroying the ancient statue, had been traced and arrested while pieces of the broken statue were also recovered.

مردان پولیس نے واقعہ کی ایریا اور ملزمان کو ٹریس کرلیا ہے۔ پولیس نے واقعہ میں ملوث ملزمان کو ٹریس اور مجسمے کے ٹکڑے بھی برآمد کرلئے ہیں۔
گرفتار ملزمان میں ٹھیکدار قمر زمان سکنہ گلی باغ، امجدسکنہ پاتے کلے، علیم سکنہ سازودین کلے اور سلیمان سکنہ شیخ ملتون شامل ہیں۔
@DrZahid_Jan https://t.co/qJTb9teh3q pic.twitter.com/M0jNcA8BB9

— KP Police (@KP_Police1) July 18, 2020

According to the provincial police, those arrested include Qamar Zaman, Amjad, Aleem, and Suleman. A first information report (FIR) has been registered against them under the Antiquities Act 2016.

KP director archaeology expressed appreciation for the police’s prompt action in arresting the suspects. Doctor Abdul Samad said that the statue belonged to the Gandhara civilisation and was approximately 1,700 years old.