Pakistani police arrested four people in connection with the destruction of a 3rd-century life-size Buddha statue.
Four people were arrested on Saturday under the antiquities law for allegedly destroying the centuries-old statue, police in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan’s northwestern province said. The independent.
The rare idol was discovered during construction work in a town near Takht-i-Bahi, known worldwide for being the main cradle of Buddhist civilization. According to initial reports, the contractor and his three workers destroyed the statue at the request of the local religious leader.
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However, a local police officer said The independent “At this time it is unclear why and on what directives the four defendants destroyed the statue.”
The group was 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 archeology, said The independent workers were doing construction work when they discovered the statue.
“Instead of informing the archeology department that they have found a life-size Buddha statue, they destroyed it and made a video,” said Samad.
He said the police have also taken the pieces of the statue into possession. “It was a 1,700-year-old Buddha statue. The police cordoned off the area and we will soon conduct a survey to determine if there are more antiques in the town or not. ”
However, he denied that the four defendants hammered the rare statue to pieces according to the instructions of a local religious leader.
In the video, people could be heard discussing the statue while it was being destroyed.
One person says, “Look, it’s a standing doll … look, it’s a woman and we’ve broken our thighs. Look, this is her belly button … it’s not clean. This is the shirt … you know shirts long and hanging “.
Another man asks, “Is this from a Hindu or a Westerner?”
A man standing next to him replies, “Hindu … this is Gautama Buddha.” Then the four men congratulate each other.
Abdul Samad said that the town where the destruction occurred is not far from Takht-i-Bahi. “Takht-i-Bahi is the most popular tourist destination in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, where a large number of people from Sri Lanka, Korea and Japan come every year.”
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