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October 18, 2013

Dondia Khera village Treasure hunt

ASI to begin excavation in UP fort for 1000 tonnes of gold after sadhu's dream

Dondia Khera Village Fort
The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) will start the excavation for 1,000 tonnes of gold, which a seer dreamt, at a dilapidated fort in Uttar Pradesh's Unnao district
LUCKNOW: October 18, 2013  (TNP) – The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) on Friday began excavating for a treasure of 1,000 tonnes of gold, which a sadhu dreamt to have been buried at a dilapidated fort in Uttar Pradesh’s Unnao district.
Officials said after ‘puja’ was performed by Hindu sadhus, the survey for the hidden gold began at 11 am at the old fort at Dondia Khera village. The fort belonged to Unnao’s mid-19th century ruler Raja Rao Ram Bux Singh. Unnao is 50km from the state capital Lucknow.
Officials said the survey of the fort of the late ruler of Unnao, Raja Rao Ram Bux Singh, at Dondia Khera village will begin at 11 a.m. after 'puja' is performed by Hindu seers. Unnao is 50 km from the state capital Lucknow.
ASI officials have been camping at the site for the last three days and completed marking the area of the potential treasure trove late Thursday amid tight security.
Thousands turned up at the site as the news of the dream occurring to venerated seer Shobhan Sarkar spread and the district administration has now banned the entry of people into the fort premises.
Shobhan Sarkar, a famous saint in the region, wrote to the prime minister a few weeks back, saying the king had come in his dreams and asked him to get the treasure dug up and hand it over to the government of India to tide over the economic crisis.
Preliminary findings, officials say, suggested presence of "some metal underneath the earth", following which ASI teams decided to proceed with the excavation.
Experts, however, are not too sure about the possibility of gold buried underneath.
While many do not rule out the discovery of some gold, they say it is not possible for 1,000 tonnes of gold being buried under the fort as Raja Rao Ram Bux Singh was a ruler who presided over a zamindari stretching not more than 25-30 km.
"He was not a big king and hence it looks unlikely that such a huge gold reserve would be found there," said D.P. Tiwari, former head of the History and Archaeology department at the Lucknow university.
For the villagers, however, Shobhan Sarkar's words are sacrosanct.
Mahendra Pratap Singh, a descendant of the late Unnao ruler, says people firmly believe that if the seer has said it, the gold has to be there.
People have also demanded that in case gold was found, 20 percent of it be spent on development of the area.
Raja Rao Ram Bux Singh fought the British along with Rani Laxmi Bai of Jhansi during the 1857 mutiny and was overthrown in the process. He went into hiding only to be captured in Varanasi after which he was sent to the gallows.
The old fort at Dondia Khera village belongs to Unnao's mid-19th century ruler Raja Rao Ram Bux Singh. Unnao is 50 km from the state capital Lucknow.

Indian police arrest crew of American ship 'MV Seaman Guard Ohio' - Another Maersk Alabama in hot water

  • Security breach by American ship illegally carrying arms and ammunition
  • India justifies detention of American ship, arrest of its crew

MV Seaman Guard Ohio 

The ship is accused of carrying a cache of weapons and ammunition in Indian waters and failing to produce proper paperwork for it.

Tuticorin:  Indian police have arrested the crew of a US-owned ship MV Seaman Guard Ohiothat was impounded on October 12, on charges of illegally transporting weapons and ammunition in Indian waters.
Eight crew and 25 security guards aboard the MV Seaman Guard Ohio were arrested after they failed to produce documents allowing them to carry the weapons, Indian government officials said.
Two other crew members, who were not arrested, were allowed to stay on board to carry out maintenance work.
The crew and security guards on board included British, Estonian, Indian and Ukrainian nationals.
Police said they had seized 35 automatic weapons and nearly 5,700 rounds of ammunition from the security guards on the ship.
The men were charged with illegal possession of weapons and ammunition and entering India's territorial waters without permission.
The ship is owned by Virginia-based security company AdvanFort but is registered in Sierra Leone.
It was detained on October 12 and has been in Tuticorin port in southern India's Tamil Nadu state.
India justified the detention of a ship owned by an American company, on Friday, and the arrest of its crew, saying the action was taken as the vessel in Indian waters carried arms, ammunition and armed guards without necessary authorisation.
"The vessel is owned by an American company but has the flag of Sierra Leone. It was stopped by the Coast Guard in consideration of issues like it was carrying arms, ammunition and armed guards without necessary authorisation," Foreign Secretary Sujatha Singh told reporters in New Delhi.
India is very sensitive about the presence of armed security guards on merchant ships after two fishermen were shot dead by armed Italian marines last year.
The marines, who are facing trial in India, were part of a military security team on a cargo ship when they fired at the fishermen, mistaking them for pirates.

Indian investigators are trying to determine whether an American ship, detained for illegally entering Indian waters and carrying guns and ammunition without permission, was involved in arms trafficking.


The investigation by the 'Q' Branch police of the state's specialised wing in the last two days has revealed that the vessel was found in the country's territorial waters and was in possession of a huge quantity of arms and ammunition, without valid authorisation of documents, police said.

Police said the two crew members have been permitted to stay on board the vessel to carry out maintenance of the ship till further arrangements were made and they would also be arrested later.

Here are 10 big developments in this story:
http://cdn.ndtv.com/static/images/sdarw.png
  1. 31 assault rifles and around 5,000 rounds of ammunition were recovered from the ship that was detained at the Tuticorin coast in Tamil Nadu early on Saturday morning, 600 kms south of Chennai.
  2. Indian security agencies are investigating whether the ship was involved in arms trafficking. The ship's presence in Indian waters is being seen as a serious breach of security. The MV Seaman Guard Ohio was not authorized to enter Indian waters.
  3. The ship is owned by an American  company named AdvanFort, which specialises in maritime security against pirates. Representatives of the firm in India have met with Coast Guard officials to discuss the case.
  4. Sources handling the case said that a police case has been filed against the 35 people on board for illegally transporting arms and ammunition.
  5. The ship had reportedly been in Indian waters for three days before it was detected. Local fishermen tipped off the Coast Guard that they were being approached by the Seaman Ohio's crew to sell food and other supplies to them.
  6. The Centre has asked the Tamil Nadu government for a detailed report on what the interrogation of the crew members reveals.
  7. "You have had piracy earlier in the Strait of Malacca and now in the Gulf. People who provide such security need a floating armoury. My suspicion is that the boat in Tuticorin is a floating armoury for one of these private security agencies," said Deputy National Security Adviser Nehchal Sandhu.  
  8. According to the Coast Guard, the ship was manned by a 10-member crew and had 25 security guards. 12 of the people on board are Indians; four of them are allegedly former officers from the Indian army and navy, says PTI.
  9. The ship was also carrying 1,500 litres of diesel which had allegedly been bought illegally.  Investigators are trying to determine which Indian agents supplied the fuel.  
  10. Sources said this is the second time in the last two months that the ship has been detained by the Coast Guard. But the last time around, those who searched the ship said nothing suspicious was found on board.

ਐੱਨ. ਆਰ. ਆਈ. ਦੇ ਸੁੰਨੇ ਘਰ ‘ਚ ਹੋਈ ਚੋਰੀ


NRI Sabha Canada: ਐੱਨ. ਆਰ. ਆਈ. ਦੇ ਸੁੰਨੇ ਘਰ ‘ਚ ਹੋਈ ਚੋਰੀ: ਸ਼ਹੀਦ ਭਗਤ ਸਿੰਘ ਨਗਰ - ਨਜ਼ਦੀਕੀ ਪਿੰਡ ਲੰਗੜੋਆ ਵਿਚ ਅਣਪਛਾਤੇ ਚੋਰਾਂ ਨੇ ਐੱਨ. ਆਰ. ਆਈ. ਦੇ ਸੁੰਨੇ ਘਰ ਨੂੰ ਨਿਸ਼ਾਨਾ ਬਣਾਉਂਦੇ ਹੋਏ ਉਥੋ ਸੋਨੇ ਦੇ ਗਹਿਣੇ ਤੇ ਹੋਰ ਸ...