A week ago, fishermen in the banks of the Parvati river in Madhya Pradesh discovered ancient coins apparently from the Mogul-era. The Mogul empire, which was established by a descendant of Genghis Khan, spanned two centuries from 1526 and dominated south Asia.
Following the discovery of ancient coins, rumours spread across the region that treasures were waiting to be discovered.
This caused hundreds of people to flock to the area in search of ancient coins.
Residents of the area have become concerned about the stampede of people.
Local Ranu Yadav, 18, said: “People of different age groups are digging at different places of the river bank to test their luck as we came to know that these coins have value of lakhs of rupees.”
Ramnaresh Singh, 37, said: “We are trying our luck 24×7 and we are sure that we will get the coins.”
The mass gathering led to the deployment of police, who want to maintain law and order in the area.
The authorities also moved to downplay rumours that ancient coins are waiting to be discovered along the riverbed.
Rajgarh Superintendent of Police Pradeep Sharma said: “We are taking care of the law-and-order situation and ensuring people’s safety.
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“We have asked the archaeology department about the importance and the era of the coins.
“We also checked with jewellers to evaluate the value of the coins but they informed that coins are made of bronze and iron and don’t have any value.
“We are spreading awareness to make people understand that these coins have no value but people are not paying any attention to our request.”