Police brace themselves against treasure hunters

An avalanche of treasure hunting cases have been reported from different parts of the country during the past few months. The surge in treasure hunting in recent times is attributed to several reasons. People have been made to believe that priceless treasures that have been buried by their ancestors for posterity could make them wealthy when unearthed, the police said. Treasure hunters also believe that these treasures have been buried at archaeological sites and other hallowed places by kings who ruled the country centuries ago. Perhaps it is for these reasons that many have joined the bandwagon of treasure hunters to become wealthy overnight.

Last week the Sunday Observer highlighted a case where a British national along with several other local men and women were arrested whilst on an illicit treasure hunt at Kandenuwara. Six men and two women were arrested by the Rattota police. The British national, aged 65 was a resident of Kadawatha Road, Dehiwela while the other suspects were from Wellampitiya, Gothatuwa and Norwood. The van in which they travelled to the location and the implements they used for digging purposes were also seized by the police. The suspects were produced before the Matale Magistrate.

Excavation

Owing to the thefts of priceless treasures from archaeological sites and several temples, IGP N.K. Illangakoon set up a special police unit on May 28 in conjunction with the Archaeological Department to combat the plundering of national treasures.

The unit is headed by a Superintendent of Police who has been authorised to carry out raids on sites where unlawful excavation of treasures and desecration of religious sites take place. The IGP has also appointed a Senior Deputy Inspector General of Police to oversee the operations.

The Police Media Spokesman Superintendent of Police Ajith Rohana told the Sunday Observer that the public can inform the special police units located in the provinces regarding of unlawful excavation of treasures.

The units are manned by a Chief Inspector of Police or an Inspector of Police. The telephone numbers of the Archaeological Department, Colombo are: 011-7222333, 011-2694727. The provincial telephone numbers of the units are as follows: (Central Province - Kandy 081-2234251, Trincomalee Province 026-2224952, Ampara and Batticaloa Provinces - 063-5683000, Kurunegala Province 037-2230206, Anuradapura Province 025-2224680.

Last week a police party from the Thalawa police station arrested suspects engaged in an illicit treasure hunting at Batuwatta Jayagaha-Ella and seized a priceless Buddha statue measuring 13 inches in length weighing 3 kilograms and 600 grams in their possession.

The gold plated Buddha statue is believed to be of archaeological value, police said. Two suspects from Mawathagama and Ambanpola areas have been taken in for questioning in this connection. The suspects will be produced before the Thambuttegama Magistrate courts, police said.

Smashed

The Horowpothana police on a tip off from the Intelligence Unit raided Galkoriya, a village situated near a lake bund on June 17 and arrested 14 suspects including a soldier attached to the Civil Defence Force who were allegedly engaged in treasure hunting. Priceless treasures are believed to be buried at the site, police said.

A Kattadiya (Charmer) from Habarana too was among those who were taken into custody. He had certain offerings to demon Bahirawa. The other suspects were natives of Wahalkade, police said. When the police party swooped on the excavation site, the suspects had dug up a 10 foot deep, 10 + 12 foot trench to locate the treasure. OIC Horowpothana Inspector Sanjeewa Mahanama is conducting further investigations into the incident.

At a workshop conducted at St. Joseph's Balika Vidyalaya in Kegalle, recently parliamentarian Ellawela Medhananda Thera stressed the importance of preserving archaeological treasures for posterity. The seminar had been organised to prevent the destruction and desecration of archaeological sites. Schoolchildren from 22 schools participated in the seminar.

Last month the Damana police on a tip off arrested two suspects who had smashed statues built of white marble inside a forest reservation. The suspects had later transported the smashed marble in sacks which they hid in a location at Damana. Damana police later recovered the sacks and are conducting further investigations. On June 16 there was an uproar at Niwatuwa village at Warakapola adjacent to the Buduruwagala mountain when several service personnel were engaged in digging up the ground to build a meditation centre. However, the villagers who suspected the service personnel were digging up for treasure lodged a complaint at the Warakapola police station. They told police a woman from Niwatuwa who owned the land had donated it to a well-known bhikkhu in the area and the service personnel had no right to be there.

However, with the intervention of politicians and the Bhikkhus in the area the project of building a meditation centre was halted, the police said. In a separate incident the Nochchiyagama police on a tip off found a gold plated Buddha statue stolen from the Sri Swarnabimbaramaya temple a few months ago.

The statue which was found hidden in a hay stack at Morawakande, Nochchiyagama last month. The statue which weighs around 300 kilograms was sculptured around 200 years ago during the Kandyan Kingdom. Following the discovery a woman and five other suspects were taken in for questioning.

The police are searching for the main suspect who has fled the area.