Dhar: Eight laborers were arrested in Madhya Pradesh's Dhar district on Sunday after a total of 86 gold coins, excavated while ongoing construction work at a house in the area, were recovered from them. The haul is estimated to weigh about one kg and has a market value of Rs 60 lakh, a police official said.
"They (laborers) were displacing the damaged portion of the wall of an under-construction house in the Chitnis Chowk area of the city when they came upon ginnies (gold coins). They distributed the coins among themselves without informing the police. Upon receiving inputs, they were questioned and the coins were seized," Additional Superintendent of Police Devendra Kumar Patidar said.
Efforts to ascertain the archeological significance of the coins and whether the laborers possess any more coins are being probed, he further noted. The accused have been identified as from Himmatgarh village in the Gwalior district of the state.