Unnao gold treasure incident
In October 2013, in Sangrampur village in the Unnao district of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, a local seer named Shobhan Sarkar dreamt that over 1000 tonnes of gold were buried under the ruins of an old fort of a 19th-century king, Ram Baksh Singh. Sarkar wrote to the Pre…
Sangrampur’s “gold treasure” episode is the kind of rural myth that makes you wonder whether the state’s paperwork department is secretly subsidising treasure hunts. In October 2013 self‑styled seer Shobhan Sarkar claimed a vision of 1,000 tonnes of gold sleeping beneath the crumbling ruins of Ram Baksh Singh’s 19‑century fort, then mailed the same letter to the President, the Ministry of Mines and the ASI. The Archaeological Survey sent a dozen men armed with shovels and a camera crew, and for ten days the village was swamped with diesel‑smelling trucks, bewildered locals and a handful of journalists snapping at every spade‑thud. On 29 October the ASI publicly declared the dig a bust – there was no glint, no ancient chest, just the usual layers of brick‑dust and a lot of embarrassed officials. A half‑hour later the department tried to save face by saying the trench would be widened, which only deepened the spectacle before the team finally packed up on 18 November and filled the holes. If you’re in Unnao and want a reminder that bureaucratic enthusiasm can rival Bollywood drama, a quick stop at the modest hamlet about 30 km from the district town is worth the detour; just don’t expect any glittering payoff, and avoid the weekend crowds of gullible curiosity‑seekers who still linger near the now‑filled pit hoping for a stray nugget.
Source · Wikipedia · Unnao gold treasure incident · CC-BY-SA
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