Five arrested in Buner for excavation at historical site

PESHAWAR: The police on Friday arrested five persons on the charges of carrying out illegal excavation at an historical site in Buner district by posing as employees of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Directorate of Archeology and Museums.

Officials at the Directorate of Archeology and Museums said that Farhad Ali Khawar and his other accomplices introduced themselves as employees of the department to the cops of Changali Police Station and showed them a fake letter to start excavation at a historical site in the Dhambari Dheri area. They said that the accused also showed the same fake letter to the owner of the land to start excavation.

The official said that the local police, on the directives of the district police officer Buner, approached the Directorate of Archeology and Museums to verify the credentials of the officials. He said the Archeology and Museums Department expressed ignorance about issuing any such letter or authorising excavation at the site.

The Directorate of Archeology and Museums told the police that the notice was fake after which the accused were arrested, the official said.

The arrested accused were identified as Salahuddin, Mir Afzal Khan, Asad Khan Shehzada and Subhan Ali.

The police lodged cases against the arrested accused under the section-32, 44 and A-44 of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Antiquities Act.

During the preliminary investigation, the accused told the police that they had planned to dig two more sites in Buner as well. A local court sent the accused to the prison.