SHIMLA, Aug 11: The treasure-trove of Buddhist antiques in Himachal Pradesh is being depleted due to the smuggling out of artefacts and antiques, many of these dating back to the pre-historic times, from the villages of Kinnaur, Lahaul and Spiti. In the past three years, the trend of smuggling of art objects, mostly in possession of the locals and Buddhist monasteries, has been on the increase without let-off.

Foreigners visiting the hitherto ``sealed'' areas, bordering China, have been buying these at virtually throwaway prices and smuggling them out of the country where these are in great demand.

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