Bail granted to accused in Buddha smashing case

TAKHTBHAI: A local court on Saturday granted bail to the four accused involved in the smashing of an ancient Buddha statue found during construction work in Takhtbhai area of Mardan district recently. The court of Civil Judge-II-cum-Judicial Magistrate Rashid Ali Khan allowed bail to Qamar Zaman, Aleem Gul, Suleman and Amjad Khan for furnishing a bond of Rs0.01 million each. The police had arrested the four men for destroying the Buddha statue. Earlier, videos surfaced on social media showing a man breaking with a hammer a life-sized statue of Buddha, parts of which were still embedded underground. Other men can be seen looking on as the statue is being destroyed while a couple of people were making videos. A first information report (FIR) was later registered against them under the Antiquities Act 2016.