Antique find: Archeology Dept to receive coins today

Three workers have gone into hiding possibly with valuable antiques.

MULTAN:

Archaeology Department officials will visit Shujabad police station on Tuesday (today) to receive over 100 coins, some of which might date back to 732 AD.

Archeology Department Assistant Director Habibullah Sahu told The Express Tribune they had been trying to establish contact with the police to obtain the coins since Friday. He said the police had finally agreed to let them access the coins. He said a team would now visit the station to be handed over the items. “We can determine their authenticity only after we see them,” he said.

Shujabad police had seized the coins from one Nawaz on Friday night. Nawaz told the police that his son Bilal, a daily-wage labourer, and his two colleagues, Allah Rakha and Abdul Ghafoor, had brought the coins along with other items in a chest they said they had found during digging at a vacant plot of land on Friday morning. Nawaz said the coins he gave to the police were all his son had.

The three workers later went into hiding. Their colleagues and police believe they had the chest and other valuable items they found during digging.

The collection includes coins believed to be minted during the Tughlaq dynasty.

The digging was meant to provide clan for a brick kiln owned by one Amjad Ahmed. Ahmed had leased the plot from Chaudary Ashiq Mayo. Talking to The Express Tribune, Allah Ditta, one of the six labourers employed by the kiln owner, said the three workers had stayed back after work hours on Friday. “They said they would work for additional hours to compensate for the hours they wanted to take off from work on Saturday,” he said.

Shujabad police said they were looking for the men and hoped to recover the rest of the treasure from them. They said they had released other labourers working at the plot who had been held at the police station for questioning.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 20^th, 2012.