Customs yet to identify abettors

Antiques smuggling to India

Foreign ministry spokesman says not aware of incident

LAHORE

Pakistan Customs’ authorities are yet to identify its official(s) whose alleged negligence helped two passengers, including one Indian national, to smuggle over 500 precious coins and antiques, date back to 2000-year-old, to India through Wagah border in two separate incidents, The News has learnt. 

As the ‘bad’ guy in Customs Department deployed at Wagah border is yet to be identified, there has been no action initiated against any official so far.

Indian Excise and Customs Department had recovered around 539 coins, some of them date back to 2000-year-old, from two persons crossed over to India through Wagah-Attari border in Amritsar.

Reportedly, the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) had also confirmed to Indian Customs authorities that the 539 coins seized from two people coming from Pakistan in separate incidents were rare and of great historical value.

Amritsar Customs Commissioner Captain Sanjay Gahlot had told Indian media in September this year that some of the coins were more than 2,000 years old. “A total of 239 coins were seized from an Indian national who entered India via Attari road route in October last year. A Pakistani national travelling by Samjhota Express had entered India carrying 300 coins in January this year,” he had said.

Gahlot said they made the seizure public after ASI confirmed in its report that the coins were rare, belonging to ancient times likes Indo-Greek, Mughal, Lodhi, Shershah Suri and Taxila, Kushan era. He claimed that the coins were priceless and their estimated value could be in crores of rupees.

Among the seized coins included: eight lion-elephant type coins (2nd century BC-1st century CE), 32 Taxila coins (animal motif on one side and Greek deities on the other), 140 Indo-Greek coins, Indo Scythian coins, 100 Sultanate and Mughal period coins, 20 Sher Shah and Akbar era coins, 20 Lahore Mint, Sultanate and Mughal coins, 11 Akbar and Sultanate coins, 193 Kushana, Azes, Scythian and Kallash coins from Kashmir and 15 Lodhi sultanate coins.

Talking to The News, Collector Customs (Preventive), Lahore, Zulfiqar Younis confirmed that they had not identified the accused Customs official (s) as yet. We are still confirming this happening from our Indian counterparts. We have sought details from them about these coins and antiques that whether they were smuggled into India from Wagah border or not, he said.

After having details from Indian authorities about the place from where and when those coins and antiques were smuggled to India, we will be in a position to take action against the responsible persons for their negligence. The official told that they had taken up the matter with the Ministry of National Heritage as well as with the Foreign Office and they would try their best to bring those historic antiques and coins back if it was proved they belonged to Pakistan.

As a preemptive measure, we have increased our vigilance at the Wagah border after the reported incidents, he added. 

When contacted on Sunday, spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Nafees Zakaria said he wasn’t aware of any such incident and could respond on the matter only after getting details from the authorities concerned. 

Another Foreign Office official, seeking anonymity, told The News that if it was proved that the precious coins and antiques were smuggled from Pakistan, the matter would be taken up with the Indian authorities. He added that there were laid down rules regarding antiques and coins, etc that whenever they were smuggled or sold to any other country they should have to be handed over to the country they belong.