NASHIK, May 19: A tribal woman, Monabai Jairam Dhule, found her pot of gold while digging a barren tract of land on a farm at Pathardi village in Surgana taluka on April 14. Monabai was dumb-struck when her trowel brought up a copper pot filled with ancient gold coins and ornaments on land belonging to Trimbak Laxman Wasle about a month ago.Rushing home with her treasure, Monabai later shared it with Sitaram Laxman Wasle and Pandurang Daya Wasle.
But Monabai's pot of gold wasn't the proverbial one at the end of the rainbow. Far from bringing prosperity, it landed her in jail.
The Surgana police confiscated her find and charged her and the two Wasles under Section 24 of the Indian Treasure trove Act, 1958.
Monabai managed to keep her find a secret for a month only, till envious villagers stumbled upon it. Threatening to tell all, they even managed to extract some of the coins from the reluctant lady. However, some disgruntled villagers went to town about the discovery on Monday, when police seizedcoins and ornaments weighing 465 gm, worth Rs 1.84 lakh, from Monabai and the Wasles.
An offence has been registered (Crime Register No 30/98) and investigations are on. Police believe the trio is still hoarding some of the treasure.
District Superintendent of Police Himanshu Roy told The Indian Express that according to the Indian Treasure trove Act, the treasure belonged to the government and Monabai should have handed it over to the police.
He says that the coins are being studied to find out which period they belong to.
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
