People in MP village go on digging spree in hope to find Mughal-era treasure

Scores of people are camping on the bank of dry Parbati river in Madhya Pradesh's Rajgarh district, 141 kilometres north of Bhopal, for the past three days to dig the riverbed in hope to find treasure dating back to the Mughal period.

After a section of people found ancient coins on the bank of river in Shivpura village a few days ago, some people spread a rumour of the presence of Mughal-era treasure in the river. With the spread of the rumour, a large number of people from Rajgarh, Guna and Sehore districts gathered in the village for a treasure hunt, said an officer of local administration.

Heavy gathering of people led to the deployment of police and district administrative officers to keep a vigil on the situation and maintain law and order.

Rajgarh superintendent of police Pradeep Sharma said, “We are taking care of the law and order situation in the area with ensuring the safety of people. We are telling them not to believe in rumours.”

"People of different age groups are digging at different places of the river bank to test their luck as we came to know that these coins have value of lakhs of rupees," said Ranu Yadav, 18, who is a local.

“We are trying our luck 24x7 and we are sure that we will get the coins,” said Ramnaresh Singh, 37, a resident of Ahmedpur, Sehore.

The district administration is also investigating the matter.

Rajgarh collector Neeraj Kumar Singh said, “A few days ago, some people found some ancient coins on the bank of river of the district. Later, a rumour spread in the area about hidden treasure.”

“We have asked the archaeology department about the importance and the era of the coins. We also checked with jewellers to evaluate the value of the coins but they informed that coins are made of bronze and iron and don't have any value.”

“We are spreading awareness to make people understand that these coins have no value but people are not paying any attention to our request,” he added.