Koppal, 4 September

In a strange case at Vaddarahatti Camp in Gangavathi taluk of Koppal district, an FIR has been registered against eight people for digging a pit nearly 50 feet deep inside a house, allegedly in the hopes of finding hidden treasure. The couple who own the house is among those booked. 

The house owners, Swarna Prakash and his wife Nagabindu, have been accused of bringing six workers from Bihar, ostensibly to carry out repairs and renovations according to Vastu beliefs, and getting them to secretly dig the pit inside the bedroom of the house instead over the past one-and-a-half months. 

Police have taken the six workers into custody and are questioning them, while Swarna Prakash and Nagabindu, who had vacated the house and moved to Bengaluru, are absconding. Police have launched a search for the latter.

The six workers told police during questioning that they had been carrying out the excavation without making noise so that nobody would become suspicious. The excavated soil was reportedly stored inside the house in more than 25 sacks to avoid alerting locals to the nature of the work. 

The case was registered at the City Police Station based on a complaint filed by a person named Arun from Vaddarahatti Camp. According to Asianet, neighbours became suspicious on hearing a strange noise inside the house around 11 am on Tuesday, leading to the call. 

An investigation into the case is ongoing, said City Police Station PI Prakash Yatanur.