KHAIRPUR, Nov 21: Seven employees of the Sachal Library, Khairpur, were suspended on Friday following the theft of rare books and manuscripts from there.

The books belonged to the period between 1793 and 1955, when Khairpur State was being ruled by the Talpur dynasty.

The suspended employees included ex-library in charge and now the assistant director, Sachal Academy, Khairpur, Khaliq Dino Noonari; the drawing and disbursement officer of the library, Syed Hassan Abbas; Mohammad Ismail, Aijaz Ali, Pervez Mangi and Abdul Latif.

The missing books included many rare manuscripts of the Holy Quran said to have been written in gold during the reign of Mir Sohrab Khan Talpur. This manuscript of the Holy Quran contains a ceasefire agreement between two ruling brothers of Khairpur State — Mir Rustam Khan Talpur and Mir Ali Murad Khan Talpur — following a war between them in 1842.