Pot of gold leads three to prison

PUNE: Three labourers digging at a school campus in Maharashtra stumbled upon a treasure — a jar of 847 gold coins of an unknown period, bearing inscriptions in Greek and Urdu, and worth roughly Rs.42 lakh, the police said on Saturday.

The labourers tried to keep secret their find but were apprehended.

“The treasure trove weighs 2.47 kg and is worth about Rs42 lakh,” an investigating officer said.

The gold coins were recovered on Friday when some labourers were digging to construct a new swimming pool on the campus of the Gadgil Municipal High School at Shaniwarpeth in Pune.

The labourers attempted to steal the coins but were arrested by the police. The entire cache was recovered from the accused Shivappa Husanappa Godekar, 40, of Pune, Mallesh Pareshram Nadavikari, 25, of Karnataka and Bhimsha Tirappa Bansode, of Sholapur. The three were presented in a city court and released on bail.

The police have called archaeological and history experts to ascertain the origins and the exact value of the coins.