'If the digging speed isn't accelerated, the gold may vanish'; upset seer leaves site

The seer who dreamt of 1000-tonne gold treasure under a 19th century fort in Uttar Pradesh left the spot literally upset with the slow pace of digging by the ASI team.

The seer who dreamt of 1000-tonne gold treasure under a 19th century fort in Uttar Pradesh left the spot literally upset with the slow pace of digging by the ASI team.

Slow digging by ASI men may make the treasure vanish, says Shobhan Sarkar, the head priest of the temple near the site in Unnao village.

He is now at his ashram in Shivli Kanpur Dehat.

But, Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) experts have a reason to go slow and steady with the digging. They hope to find relics along the way and any recklessness may damage them. And hence three-foot-a-day is the standard pace.

But Baba’s devotee Munna Singh says, “It is all about finding the gold. Bring in the hardware (JCB etc) and Baba will give the treasure in less than 10 hours. He (Baba) is asking for them that from day one. If the digging is not accelerated the gold will disappear from current location.”

Observers feel this is Baba’s well-thought-out ploy for an escape route in case no gold is found.

In fact, earlier the seer had spoken to Unnao collector VK Anand on this issue after it emerged that the ASI would take five weeks in the excavation. He insisted Anand for using the JCB machines in the presence of the army personnel to guard the process.

But, Anand chose to go by the ASI’s call.

Meanwhile, some senior officials of the ASI alleged that some locals and priest’s men were exerting pressure on the team to speed up the excavation. “Pressure is enormous. Why were we involved then in the first place?” asks one of them.

Ram Karan, another disciple says, “He never wanted the ASI to come into the picture. Read his letters to authorities to find he merely suggested ASI can be used to validate his revelation.”