No gold treasure found in Malkhana No 1: officers

MULTAN: The bureaucracy is creating ambiguity about the find of mysterious antique gold treasure that, according to social media, was found during an excavation at Malkhana No 1 in Multan district courts seven days ago, The News has learnt.

The officers concerned have now started denying the presence of any treasure at the Malkhana No 1 after one week.

According to an insider of the district administration, neither the city district administration contradicted the report of the gold treasure circulated widely on social media platforms, nor it has confirmed the find at Malkhana No 1.

Talking to The News on Saturday, Additional Deputy Commissioner Revenue Tayyab Khan ruled out the presence of any gold treasure and said all information in this regard are baseless and fabricated

When asked why the Malkhana No 1 was sealed, he said the reason behind sealing and deploying of police force was that some valuable articles and documents were found from Malkhana No 1.

A spokesperson for the Deputy Commissioner (DC) also rebuffed the presence of gold treasure and said all stories in this regard are baseless.

The News approached building destruction contractor Mushtaq Ahmed, who said he would start destruction work afresh at the Malkhana. He urged the district administration to provide guidance about new destruction work.

He said: "When the officials visited Malkhana No 1, he was standing outside, and when they came out of the Malkhana they called senior district administration officials and representatives from the judiciary.

He said the officers reached the spot and examined the inside of Malkhana No 1. They decided sealing Malkhana No 1 and deployment of police personnel.

Talking to The News, Multan District Bar Association president Imran Suleri expressed his ignorance about the gold treasure find and said the government should hold inquiry into the matter and expose facts.

Some lawyers, who have their chambers close to the Malkhana No 1, said they came to know about the discovery of gold treasure weighing 57 kilogram through their colleagues.

They said the officials of the district administration and police visited the Malkhana No 1 and ordered sealing of the room and deployed police round-the-clock.

Earlier, the Multan District Bar Association refused shifting of lawyers' chambers to the newly-built Judicial Complex at Mati Tal Road and the city district administration decided to establish lawyers' chambers, courts and offices at the cemetery after demolishing the whole structure of lawyers' chambers, courts and police Malkhana.

They said erecting new chambers, courts and offices at the cemetery is the permanent solution to lawyers' problems.

The administration also recommended establishment of parking plaza on the premises of the district courts.

The city district administration hired a contractor to raze the building structure around the district courts.

Reportedly, the razing process was underway when the social media ran stories of the find of the gold treasures.

The social media platforms claimed the mysterious treasure was worth billions of rupees.

Senior police officials, DC Amir Khatak and judiciary representatives visited the spot and sealed the Malkhana No 1 by deploying police and the administration wrote letters to Punjab Archeology Department and Punjab Chief Secretary to evaluate the mysterious treasure. However, ADCR Tayyab Khan rejected the news about the presence of gold treasures.