Sindh archaeology dept seeks custody of Gandhara relics

KARACHI:

The provincial archaeology department director submitted an application at the judicial magistrate’s court on Tuesday and requested it to grant the department custody of the Gandhara artifacts that were recently seized by police.

Qasim Ali Qasim filed the petition in the court of judicial magistrate, east, Mohammad Haleem Ahmed, and claimed that the relics were unsafe at their current location, the Awami Colony police station. He added that the police had refused to hand over the relics to the department.

Police had seized a truck laden with 2000-year-old Gandhara civilisation relics on July 6, and arrested the truck’s drivers, and later its owners. Since then, over 300 relics have been lying in the station’s courtyard.

Qasim said that they wanted the artifacts to be kept at the National Museum in Karachi. Meanwhile, the investigation officer told the court in a written statement that since the artifacts were being used as evidence in a case, police had no right to hand them over to the archeology department.

The officer added that police would have no objection if the court gave the Gandhara relics to the concerned department. The court has summoned the additional deputy public prosecutor on July 28.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 25^th, 2012.