[CPProt.net] 6000-year-old antiques headed for Dubai seized in Karachi

[MSN CPPnet]

6000-year-old antiques headed for Dubai seized in Karachi
Karachi | June 24, 2005 3:35:56 PM IST
 
Antiques worth millions of dollars and said to be over 6,000-years-old have
been seized by authorities in Karachi in Pakistan. 

The artifacts were reportedly being smuggled to Dubai, but customs officers
at Karachi Airport prevented it by arresting one person after receiving a
timely tip-off on June 11.

The customs team intercepted a consignment of wooden furniture, brass and
copperware which was headed for Dubai, and on examination, the antiques were
discovered. They were being shipped by a Islamabad-based company with the
help of an exporter.

Customs officials said that the consignment had been booked by 'Kashmir
Carpet House and confirmed that the concealed antiquies and sculptures were
worth millions in international market. The seized consignment included
around 500 pieces of pre-Harappa material, ancient Gandhara sculpture, Hindu
period sculpture, Islamic period material and Ethnological material.

A four-member team of senior archaeologists have certified the antiquities
as original, and custom officials said that they had been stolen from
excavation sites in the provinces of Punjab, Baluchistan and Afghanistan.
(ANI)