SWAT: The Swat Police claimed to have foiled the attempt to smuggle thousands of years old antiques worth millions of rupees to China and arrested the accused.
Ghaligay Police SHO Roshan Ali, addressing a press conference along with Landakay Checkpost In-Charge Taj Muhammad Khan and Deputy Director of Archaeology Department, Malakand Division, Faizur Rehman, said that they were doing routine checking at Landakay Checkpost when a car was stopped and after searching, hundreds of valuable antiques were recovered from the secret compartments of the vehicle.
He said that after bringing these antiques to Swat, an attempt was being made to smuggle them to China through Gilgit-Balistan, but the police foiled the smuggling of these antiques.
“These antiques include ancient coins, tools and decorative items, including consumables,” he said.
He said that the police have detained the accused namely Ghulam Jilani, a resident of Quetta, for not presenting the ownership documents and a case has been registered against him under Antiquities Act 2106.
“According to the Department of Archaeology, there are antiquities dating back to four thousand years before Christ (BC). Ninety percent of the antiquities are extracted from underground and it is not possible to estimate how much these antiquities are worth.”
Faizur Rehman, Deputy Director of the Department of Archaeology, Malakand Division, said on this occasion that these artefacts include complete antiques  and different types of equipment.
“It contains both original works and copies, but both are offenses under the Antiquities Act,” he said.
According to the officials of the Department of Archaeology, under the Antiquities Act, stealing a national heritage and taking it abroad is prohibited and according to the law, it is a major crime.
“The police have registered a case against the accused and formed a team to assess the other accused involved in this process of smuggling.”
