BHOPAL: A borewell being dug at Kurawar town in Madhya Pradesh’s Rajgarh district has possibly led to a treasure trove dating back to the colonial era. The municipal body in Kurawar’s Narsinghgarh block is engaged in digging borewells in 15 wards of the town to address drinking water woes for the coming summer season.
Workers digging a borewell at government land in Ward No. 11 of Kurawar town on Tuesday evening were in for a rare surprise. Just when the digging machine reached a depth of around 100 ft, a fount of water sprung up bringing cheers from workers and curious residents of the parched area.
The sudden pressure of groundwater also brought out some century-old rare silver coins dating back to the Colonial era. Many locals hurriedly left the spot after collecting some of the coins.
“The police seized three coins of one rupee denomination dating back to the period of 1912-1919. The three coins were from 1912, 1913 and 1919. The police lodged a case against unidentified persons for decamping with the rare coins from King George V era,” said Kurawar town nayab tehsildar Arvind Diwakar. “It’s yet to be ascertained how many coins were taken away… Locals claimed that more than 30 coins could have been taken away.”
The sub-divisional magistrate and the district collector were informed about the silver coins. “Mining and borewell digging activity were banned in the locality with immediate effect. The entire area was cordoned off and the police deployed there,” said Diwakar.
The three silver coins weighing 10 gm each, are presently valued at Rs 650 apiece, the revenue department official claimed.