They were not hunting for lost treasure belonging to some king, but rather the loot hoarded by a gang of thieves. They took to digging soon after the Vadodara police carried out a 10-hour excavation with a tractor and some help from personnel of two police stations.

Apparently, on Friday, the Makarpura police caught hold of two children found stealing ornaments from a marriage party. They cajoled the children to lead them to a hoard of stolen jewellery and cash that was buried in the ground over a period of six months.

It is believed that an unidentified gang of thieves is responsible for this.

Premilaben Kahar, a resident said: “They (police) came here around 3 pm on Friday. We thought they must have been inquiring about some petty issue related to the people who had been living a little away from our colony since the last six months. But sometime later, they started digging the earth, and when we went there out of curiosity, we saw them digging out ornaments. Two children were directing them about other spots where they could get more of the loot."

Locals said the search continued till midnight with the help of flashlights.

“There were officers from the Makarpura and Kisanwadi police stations, who had cordoned off the entire area. No one was allowed to get close. They even brought a tractor and ploughed the area to ensure that nothing remained.

We saw them carrying not less than 2 kg ornament and a gunnysack filled with currency notes of different denominations including Rs 1,000," said a resident on condition of anonymity.

But soon after the police left, the residents took to digging.

"We did not know these people as they never communicated with us. But we are hopeful that we will get something though the police have extensively searched the place," said Paresh Kahar, a resident.

Makarpura Inspector Z A Thakor confirmed that two children led them to the spot where they had buried the stolen stuff. "They belong to the Kanjar tribe hailing from Rajgadh district of Madhya Pradesh," he said.