Destruction of 1,700 year-old Buddha statue in Pakistan

 

Police in Pakistan have arrested four people in connection with the destruction of a third-century life-sized Buddha statue.

Four people were detained on Saturday under antiquities law for allegedly destroying the centuries-old statue, police in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the northwestern province of Pakistan, told The Independent.

The rare idol was discovered during construction work in a village near Takht-i-Bahi, known around the world for being the main cradle of the Buddhist civilisation. According to initial reports, the contractor and his three labourers destroyed the statue at the behest of local religious leader.

However, a local police official told The Independent “at this moment it is not clear why and on whose directives the four accused destroyed the statue”.

The group were arrested after their video, in which they could be seen hammering a statue to pieces, went viral on social media.

Abdul Samad, the provincial director of archaeology, told The Independent the labourers were doing construction work when they discovered the statue.

“Instead of informing the archaeology department that they have found a life-sized Buddha statue, they destroyed it and made video,” Mr Samad said.

He said that the police have also taken the pieces of the statue into possession. “It was a 1,700 year’s old Buddha statue. Police have cordoned off the area and we will soon conduct survey whether there are more antiquities in the village or not.”

However, he denied that the four accused hammered the rare statue to pieces on the directives of a local religious leader.