BUDDHA STATUE DISCOVERED IN PAK VANDALISED BY WORKERS

ISLAMABAD: A Buddha statue, which was discovered while digging the foundation for a house in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, was smashed into pieces by local construction workers on Saturday because they considered the relic to be “un-islamic”, according to media reports.

The statue was discovered in the Takht Bhai area of Mardan when the workers were digging on a piece of land to lay its foundation.a video that is being widely circulated on social media shows construction workers smashing the statue using a sledgehammer. They were heard saying the item was “un-islamic”.

Local media quoted a senior officer of the tourism department as saying that authorities have taken note of the incident and are looking into the matter.

Abdul Samad, the director of archaeology and museums, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, said the area was traced and those involved in the vandalism of the statue will be held accountable. “We have located the area and we will soon have those involved arrested,” he said.

15 PILOTS SUSPENDED

Pakistan’s aviation authority has suspended 15 more pilots for possessing dubious licences, taking the number of those taken off duty for flying with fake credentials in the country to 93, according to a media report on Saturday.

These are among the 262 pilots, who were grounded and put under investigation by the aviation ministry last month, for possessing suspicious licences, according to Dawn newspaper.