Treasure hunt at Birlas

The treasure hunt at the residence of late Priyamvada Birla at Birla Park took a "historical" turn, unearthing artefacts dating back to the pre-Christian era. Hundreds of gold coins of the Gupta, Maurya and Mughal period have surfaced last night in the inventory of her personal belongings.

Acting on a Calcutta High Court order, special officers informed the court today that a few hundred gold coins and gold artefacts like flower vases, tea sets and a miniature boat were found in one of the almirahs located on the ground floor.

The excavation carried out last evening was no less than a thriller, as a wooden panel on the ground floor opened out to a strong room, which had two almirahs and one safe.

In a true filmi style, the search led to a stack of gold coins and three licenced pistols. So far, only one of the almirahs has been broken open. There is a safe on the top floor, as well.

The Birla camp was quick to claim that evaluation by Christie's would reveal that coins could be worth several hundreds of crore of rupees.

They also said Rajendra Singh Lodha's probate petition had put a valuation of Rs 16 lakh to the Priyamvada Birla's personal belongings. Debanjan Mandal of Fox & Mandal, representing Lodha said, "It was our clients' case all along to keep the premises intact and instruct the caretaker to ensure that no valuables are taken out. All the things are kept as they were at the time of death of Mrs Birla. We have welcomed the inventory."

The treasure was being guarded by eight armed security men, four from each camp - Birla and Lodha - since last night.

The special officer will make an inventory of the last night findings today. Justice Kalyan Jyoti Sengupta today directed that both the parties post armed guards at the place where the valuables were found.

Ahin Chowdhury and Ashok Banerjee, two of the four special officers appointed by Justice Sengupta to make an inventory of the personal belongings of Priyamvada, today appeared before him seeking directions on the safe custody of the recovered articles.

Justice Sengupta directed that both Lodha and the Birlas would appoint four armed guards each for the safe custody of the articles, which would be required to be kept in a new almirah. This was because the lock of the one in which it was stored had been broken.