Rare artifacts go missing from airport

This is a shameful incident for this army government who was irresponsibly sending these rare artifacts to Paris museum and now they are missing. This Government has done it unilaterally against the public will and the court order. Condemn this incident and we hope the army government will now find them. Otherwise, they'll be held responsible and forget about any immunity. Read this breaking news from bdnews:

Dhaka, Dec 23 (bdnews24.com) –A carton loaded with rare Bangladesh artefacts went missing from Zia International Airport, police said Sunday.

Ruhul Amin, officer-in-charge of the Airport Police Station, told bdnews24.com that two boxes of artefacts and relics went missing from the airport Friday night, but one was found later near a pond.

The government Friday shipped a second consignment of archaeological relics out of Bangladesh National Museum, en route to Paris for display at the Guimet Museum.

The police interrogated four museum officials and 10 airport cargo handlers.

Homebound Courier Services trucked 145 relics to ZIA.

The shipment of artefacts and relics by the government drew flak from artists, sculptors and students.

Some campaigners locked the gate to the National Museum Friday apparently to stop the government taking the relics from the museum, witnesses said.

But the police broke the lock open to allow the courier's trucks in around 3pm.

The government had earlier sent off 42 artefacts in 10 cartons on Nov 30.

The shipment of the relics ran into legal snags after an archaeological researcher, Nurul Islam, petitioned to the High Court on Dec 6, which, in turn, halted the shipment until Jan 15, 2008.

On Dec 13, the court rejected a government appeal to cancel the status quo.

The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court later put freezes on the High Court order.

The artefacts from five Bangladesh museums were scheduled to be on display at the exhibition under an agreement signed between the French ambassador to Bangladesh and the cultural affairs secretary.

Some 188 items were selected from Dhaka museum and the museums of Paharpur, Mahasthangarh, Mainamati and Barendra for the show.