Rumour of ‘hidden treasure’ trigger ‘gold rush’ in MP dist
Rumours that hidden wealth was buried in a river have triggered a treasure hunt by locals in some riparian villages in Madhya Pradesh, leading to deployment of police forces in the area.
Thousands of people from around a dozen villages under Narasinghgarh subdivision under Rajgarh district have been thronging the nearby Parvati river for the past 5 days in search of the “hidden treasure” buried under its bed, a senior district officer said on Sunday.
Young and old were seen busy digging out the river bed round-theclock in a stretch of around 500 meters in the river bed for the past 5 days to try out their luck.
The ‘treasure hunters’ were even seen setting up tents on the river bank to spend the night.
“I have ordered the police to initiate action to maintain law and order in the area when I received the reports that people from some villages under Narasinghgarh subdivision have started digging the river in search of hidden treasure. Rumours that gold coins were buried in the river bed have triggered the treasure hunt by the villagers”, local tehsildar Rajendra Sharma said.
Official sources said the “treasure hunters”, gathered in the river bed, were being persuaded through public address systems not to pay heed to such rumours and leave the place to avoid police action.
“We have deployed police at different places to stop locals from thronging the river. Villagers of Ahmedpur and Sultanpur who were trying to storm the river bed have been turned back by the police”, Kurabar police station in-charge Naresh Rathore said. According to the police, some people in the villages of Shivpura and Gudupara, located on the river bank recovered a few old coins from the river 5 days ago and the news spread like wildfire in the surrounding villages leading to the “gold rush”.
“Some people may have retrieved a few coins in the river accidentally. But, there is absolutely no truth in the rumours going round the villages that hidden treasures were buried in the river” Mr Sharma said.