TEHRAN –Iranian police have recently arrested a gang of illegal diggers in Khodabandeh county, northwestern Zanjan province.

Some digging tools [and treasure detector(s)] were seized from the two-member team, who were traced following reports by local people, said Hossein-Ali Fazli, a senior police official in charge of protecting cultural heritage, CHTN reported on Sunday.

The culprits were handed over to the judicial system for further investigation, the official added.

Zanjan is one of the cities founded by Sassanid King Ardashir I (180-242 CE). The province makes a base for wider explorations with the architectural wonder of Soltaniyeh, the subterranean delights of the Katale-Khor caves, colorful mountains, and the UNESCO-registered Takht-e Soleiman ruins are nearby.

The first well-documented evidence of human habitation on the Iranian plateau is found from deposits from several excavated cave and rock-shelter sites in the Zagros Mountains, which dates back to Middle Paleolithic or Mousterian times (c. 100,000 BC).

ABU/AFM