[CPProt.net] KARACHI: Artifacts theft case being hushed up

[MSN CPPnet]

KARACHI: Artifacts theft case being hushed up
By Bhagwandas

KARACHI, June 27: The case of at least five gold pieces of a priceless
necklace which had gone missing a couple of years back and have not yet been
traced out, is being pushed under the rug by the Archaeology and Museums
Department, it is learnt. According to sources, officers of the department
are trying to pass the buck to others in order to waste the time in useless
communication on the one hand, and let the matter become too old to be
remembered on the other.

The sources said that the precious necklace was excavated in pieces from an
archaeological site of Allahdino near the city by a US team in 1970s. The
artifacts belonged to the Harappan period, and keeping in view their
rareness and significance, they were kept in an iron safe at a place where
only most precious artifacts are kept.

The safe was given in the custody of an official, Mohammad Meherban. At an
occasion, when Mr Meherban was not in the city, a Japanese team came here to
collect some of the artifacts, kept in the same iron box, for display at an
exhibition in their country. Accordingly, Mr Meherban was contacted and
asked to come to the department and deliver the artifacts. However, instead
of doing it by himself, the official sent his son, along with the keys of
the safe, who opened the safe in presence of the other officials of the
department. After handing over the artifacts to the officials, Mr Meherban's
son locked the safe again and left with the keys.

Later, it transpired that the golden pieces of the necklace and seals had
gone missing. Mr Meherban insists that the safe had been opened by another
official of the department, Saleemul Haq, and maintains that he (Mr
Meherban) could not be held responsible for the alleged theft.

Amid the controversy, Dr Asma Ibrahim took over the post held by Mr Meherban
and the issue of handing over the custody of artifacts, including those in
the safe, was left pending.

The sources said that an inquiry had been conducted by the department which
submitted its findings to Director-General Dr Fazal Dad Kakar. However,
neither any action was taken nor was a decision taken on the matter.

In the meantime, Mr Meherban got retired but the department has withheld his
dues till the issue was resolved.

The sources said that the department was trying to hush up the case as had
been done in the mater of theft of some seals and artifacts from Moenjodaro
a few years back. The culprits might have been become multi-millionaire by
now, the sources added.

The sources said that unless such matters were handed over to the FIA or NAB
for investigation and action, rare artifacts would continue to be stolen and
the culprits would never be brought to book.