ASI unearths rusted iron and glass bangles: Digging slows down in Daundia Khera after 'buried treasure' proves elusive
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Pieces of rusted iron and broken glass bangles are all that the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) and the Geological Survey of India (GSI) have so far found on the premises of Raja Rao Ram Baksh Singh's fort in Unnao.
The agencies started the excavation work on October 18, around three months after seer Shobhan Sarkar told a Union minister that he had dreamt of a 1,000-tonne gold treasure buried on the fort premises at Daundia Khera, Unnao.
Fed up, the agencies have reportedly slowed down the exercise after they realised that they would find only materials which are of archeological importance as opposed to huge monetary value.
The workers of the agencies took a holiday on Wednesday.
"The fort of Rao Ram Baksh Singh must not be more than two centuries old. Obviously, we don't have a solid reason to dig the area, except that a seer who has a tremendous influence on some members of the Union government wants us to follow his instinct and continue the exercise till we find the treasure," an ASI official told Mail Today.
"We have received some iron pieces and nails from the excavated area. We have also found some broken glass bangles. Further study would reveal the age of these materials," he said.
Sarkar, however, stood by his claim that 1,000 tonnes of gold is buried in the fort ruins.
Women walk outside Shobhan Sarkar's ashram at Baksar in UP's Unnao district
"I have told the Union government and the excavators that they would get the gold treasure only after digging 16 metres into the earth," Sarkar was quoted as saying to his disciples at his Shobhan village ashram in Kanpur.
The excavators have dug up to 192 centimetres so far. But the ASI officials didn't appear to be excited.
"While the Centre has taken the seer's words so seriously and is forcing the ASI to dig for the possible gold treasure, the agency accepted only 588 out of the 728 proposals it had received between 2007 and 2012. Both the ASI and the GSI have not acted on the remaining proposals," said an ASI official pleading anonymity.
In fact, he has a solid reason to believe so. At a time when the Central Advisory Board of Archaeology had not discussed this issue in its last meeting on September 30, Daundia Khera excavation was cleared by top officials immediately after Union Minister of State for Agriculture and Food Processing Charan Das Mahant wrote to it on October 1.
A team of the ASI and the GSI conducted a survey on the spot on October 3 and 4, and the ASI submitted a 10-page report on October 10, stating that there could be some metallic substances buried inside the fort premises.
The Golden Baba
By Piyush Srivastava in Daundia Khera
He doesn't have any property or a bank account in his name. He doesn't accept any cash or wealth from his followers. Yet, seer Shobhan Sarkar - whose dream has sparked a hunt for gold in the Daundia Khera village in Uttar Pradesh - can sponsor the construction of a pond, a road or an overbridge without bothering about the budget.
His disciples claim that Sarkar, aka Bhaskar Tiwari, aka Anand Deo, is a miracle man who can make gold materialise at will. Sarkar is known to have done a lot of work for public good. He has developed an irrigation network in about 200 villages around Shobhan from this wealth that helps farmers get water round the year free of cost.
According to some of his disciples, this has been possible because of the saint's miracle powers to produce gold. They claim that although he never touches material things, at least one kg of gold ornaments are found every morning in the backyard of his ashram in village Shobhan in the Shivali area of Kanpur.
Om Awasthi, alias Om Jee, the most trusted aide of Sarkar, said he is a man with a Midas touch: "He is a living god. He can convert anything into gold."
Another disciple, Rajendra Tiwari, said: "I have known him for a long time. He has great spiritual powers and can do anything. He knows the unknown and can do miracles."
Interestingly, Tiwari was removed from the ashram by Sarkar a few days ago because he had promised to show the media the gold buried underneath even before the ASI had started the excavation work.
But some other disciples of the seer rubbished the claims about a kg of gold being found every day. They say that it's the gold or money willingly left by followers that helps the saint to do welfare works.
An aide of Sarkar, who didn't want to be named, said: "It is true that he doesn't accept any offering. But people bring their newborn babies to him to bless them and newly-wed couples also come to him for blessing.
Gold magic
"Many of these people leave gold ornaments in the backyard of the ashram while leaving. But it is wrong that one kg of gold is found there every day."
Om Jee's claim about a kg of gold has raised eyebrows. In fact, he has been courting controversy with his utterances and also over his past links with the Congress. He has admitted that he had not completely renounced the material world.
"I am like any common man. I don't wear anything above the waist. But I can wear anything. I am an ordinary person," he said.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/indiahome/indianews/article-2474141/ASI-unearths-rusted-iron-glass-bangles-Digging-slows-Daundia-Khera-buried-treasure-proves-elusive.html#ixzz2jGLAmLif
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