MALAKAND: Officials of the Malakand district administration recovered a statue of Buddha from a deserted house in Thana town during a raid here the other day.

After getting information that some people had illegally kept a Buddha relic, stated to be from Gandhara civilisation, in a deserted house, Malakand deputy commissioner Suhail Khan directed assistant commissioner Mohibullah and commander Thana Levies post to take immediate action.

The Levies personnel raided the house in Nal area of Thana and seized the statue.

Talking to mediapersons, the deputy commissioner said that the ancient Buddha relic was 3.5 feet long with a width of 1.5 feet. He said the relic would be handed over to the archaeology department after completion of legal work.

He said that an FIR had been registered against unknown persons and further investigation was underway.

According to local residents, the illegal excavation of archaeological sites was going on in Palay, Zalamkot, Shahkot, Nal and Gunyar areas, which were known for Buddha artifacts and relics.

Published in Dawn, July 9th, 2021