LUCKNOW, India: India ended a search for treasure beneath a 19th century fort after finding only a few bones and terracotta bricks but none of the gold predicted by a Hindu holy man’s dream, an official said Friday.
The search began Oct. 18 in Uttar Pradesh state in northern India after Hindu swami Shobhan Sarkar told a government minister that a former king appeared to him in a dream and told him of a nearly $50 billion cache.
The leader of the dig, Praveen Kumar Mishra, said the hunt had been suspended.
The opposition said the government search was triggered by the holy man’s dream.
The Geological Survey of India earlier said it found signs of heavy metal about 20 meters (66 feet) underground and decided to dig the area in Unnao district, about 80 kilometers (50 miles) southwest of the state’s capital of Lucknow.
However, Mishra said Friday that appeared to have been an error.
The state-run Archaeological Survey of India found some artifacts and reached sediments of calcium carbonates in the first trench, Mishra said.
There was no hope of finding any archaeological objects beyond that as the diggers hit rocks in the second trench, he told The Associated Press.
“There is no indication of (the presence) any alloy as reported by the GSI team,” Mishra said in his report.
Indian treasure hunt based on dream finds no gold
Indian treasure hunt based on dream finds no gold
Indonesia: Discussions with Board of Peace ‘on hold’ due to Iran war
- Indonesia’s participation on the board has drawn criticism from experts and Muslim groups at home
JAKARTA: Indonesia’s foreign minister said talks on US President Donald Trump’s Gaza “Board of Peace,” of which the Southeast Asian nation is a key troop-contributing member, were on hold due to the Middle East war.
The US and Israeli air war against Iran has killed scores of civilians, thrown global air transport into chaos and sent oil prices surging after the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz.
“All BoP discussions are on hold as all attention has shifted to the situation in Iran,” Minister Sugiono, who goes by one name, said late on Tuesday in response to a question on calls for Indonesia to exit the peace board in the aftermath of the fresh conflict in the Middle East.
“We will also consult with our friends and colleagues in the Gulf because they are also under attack,” Sugiono told reporters after attending an event alongside President Prabowo Subianto.
Indonesia’s participation on the board has drawn criticism from experts and Muslim groups at home, who say it compromises the world’s largest Muslim-majority nation’s longstanding support for the Palestinian cause.
Indonesia backs a two-state solution.
The Indonesian Ulema Council, a leading clerical body, said on March 1 that Indonesia should leave the board, citing Trump’s attack on Iran as rendering the initiative ineffective.
Meanwhile, Nahdlatul Ulama, Indonesia’s largest Muslim organization, said Jakarta should use its position to press Israel and the United States to halt the violence.
Trump first proposed the board in September when he unveiled a plan to end Israel’s war in Gaza, later expanding its remit to address other global conflicts typically handled by the United Nations.
Sugiono also said Prabowo is willing to be a mediator in the Iran war in a bid “to cool down and de-escalate the situation in the region.”
Indonesia is readying 1,000 troops for potential deployment in Gaza by early April as part of a proposed multinational peacekeeping force, its army said, as part of the UN-mandated International Stabilization Force. It has also been given the deputy commander role of the force.
