* Watchman files complaint against FAD official

* Oriya Maqbool Jan says he will register a police case against FAD Headquarters Director Mohan Lal Uchani

LAHORE: A Federal Archaeology Department (FAD) official has been accused of stealing stones from the Sheesh Mahal courtyard and violating the 1975 Antiquities Act.

Sheesh Mahal is located in Lahore Fort, which is a World Heritage site, and is being conserved under UNESCO’s supervision.

Watchman Dilawar Hussain has lodged a complaint against FAD Headquarters Director Mohan Lal Uchani with Lahore Fort Curator Afzal Khan. Uchani has been accused of going to the Sheesh Mahal courtyard at about 1:30pm accompanied by other FAD officials and digging out the stones without permission.

According to the Antiquities Act, 1975, “No person shall, except for carrying out the purposes of this act, destroy, break damage, alter, injure, deface or mutilate or scribble, write or engage any inscription or sign on, any antiquity or take manure from any protected antiquity. Whoever contravenes the provisions of sub-section (1) shall be punishable with rigorous imprisonment for a term which may extend to three years, or with fine, or with both.”

The Lahore Fort curator said that Uchani had not sought permission to take away stones from the courtyard, a part of the World Heritage site. He said Punjab Archaeology Department (PAD) Director General Oriya Maqbool Jan had been informed. Jan said he would file a case against Mohan Lal with the police for stealing the stones. Mohan Lal Uchani refused to comment. Last year, Uchani had accused Northern Circle Director Saleemul Haq of stealing cut stones inlaid in a marble slab in the Takht-e-Shahi at Lahore Fort, but a committee headed by Jan acquitted him. “It seems ridiculous that he stole a stone that costs Rs 1,000 and is abundantly available in the market,” said the committee’s report, adding that the allegation was made and projected in newspapers “to malign some individuals”.