SWABI: Police here have arrested three persons for conducting illegal excavation for artefacts in famous Karamar Mountain and registered a case against them under the Antiquities Act, 1975.

District police officer Mohammad Shoaib Khan confirmed this here on Tuesday.

The arrested persons have been identified as Khairul Zaman of Shewa village, Anwar Shah of Captain Karnal Sher Khan Kallay and Mohammad Saeed of Dab Lakhtay, Razaar tehsil.

DPO Shoaib said they had strengthened the monitoring work keeping a close watch on rich archeological sites like Aziz Dheri, Karamar Mountain, a site in Baja village, and other sites to block such activities.

Karamar Mountain is situated in Parmuli police station limits.

When contacted, SHO Shahzad Khan said that following a tip-off about the excavation the police raided the Karamar Mountain and rounded up the suspects.

Another official said that during preliminary investigation it was revealed that the three arrested persons were also having links with a smuggler in Punjab. He said they had registered an FIR against them.

“We have recovered an automatic machine and other tools of excavation from them,” said Mr Shahzad.

However, he said that proper investigation of the suspects would be conducted by officials of the Directorate of Archaeology and Museums.

Published in Dawn, January 12th, 2022