Digging continues in UP fort ruins amid heavy security

Digging to unearth a purported 1,000 tonnes of gold, said to be buried beneath a fort in Uttar Pradesh's Unnao district, continued for the third day Sunday amid heavy security.

Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) official P.K. Mishra said they have been able to dig to a depth of 65 cm at the at the ruins of Raja Rao Ram Bux Singh's fort, near Daundia Kheda village, 70 km from Lucknow.

He gave no further details.

Talking to a local TV channel here, ASI director Syed Jamal Hasan said they began excavation at the site in the neighbouring Unnao district after the Geological Survey of India (GSI), acting on a letter from the Prime Minister's Office (PMO), carried out a survey there.

Seer Shobhan Sarkar had a dream about presence of a huge quantity of gold and approached his disciple and union Minister of State for Agriculture Charan Das Mahant and the PMO, following which the survey and excavation were undertaken.

Preliminary findings suggested presence of "some metal underneath the earth", following which ASI teams decided to proceed with the excavation, said Hasan.

A police official at the site told IANS that heavy security measures have been taken to maintain order in the area as it was apprehended that the crowd might turn violent in case no gold was found.

On ASI's request, 100 police men, six station house officers (SHOs) and a circle officer along with three companies of Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC) have been deployed at the site. CCTV cameras have also been installed, the official added.