MULTAN - Social media platforms were abuzz with talk of some treasure inside Malkhana at district courts Multan prompting district administration to deploy police to guard the premises after some newspapers and TV channels also followed the suit.
Treasure or no treasure but something important, precious or may be of archaeological value was stored inside Multan Malkhana in Katcheri premises and police stand deployed there to guard it.
Malkhana No 1 was written in Urdu on a plaque on the structure and it was found locked and sealed, District Bar Association President Imran Rasheed Sulehri said. The old structures were being demolished to build new courts at the Katcheri, he added.
Some structures were seen demolished on Friday except Malkhana No 1. “We were not allowed to demolish a wall parallel to Malkhana so that removal of two iron girders did not leave holes in Malkhana wall and made it vulnerable to unwanted intrusion”, says a worker who was supervising the work on behalf of contractor at the site.
A zila council official said, he heard labourers found some old documents and coins.
Built before partition, Malkhana is located exactly behind a structure once used as court of Special Judge Anti Corruption which now stands demolished.
When contacted, an official confirmed district administration had sent request to police for deployment for protection.
Another official said that some labourers claimed they found gold coins and the matter was reported to the high ups following which a civil judge and a district government official visited the site and sealed the room. Demolition was stopped.
The official added that a letter had also been sent to Punjab government and further action would be taken on the instructions of the government. He further stated that Malkhana would be de-sealed on the instructions of the government and in the presence of judge and administration official.
He said that opinion of archeology department would also be sought in the matter.
When contacted, SDO Archeology Multan Malik Ghulam Muhammad said that he had not received any letter in that connection. It may be noted that many gold and bronze coins were recovered after a British era market was demolished in cantonment area around over ten years ago in the city.