An iron chest has been found underground during the demolition of an old building of the registry office in Tala, Satkhira, stirring interest among the locals.
The padlocked chest was found padlocked on Monday afternoon at Islamkati Union in Tala upazila .
The chest is yet to be opened, said Mehedi Russel, chief of Tala Police Station. Locals are excitedly guessing what could be inside the chest.
Feudal lord Surindranath Chakrabarty had constructed the building for his business around 150 years ago, said Babu Lal Ghosh, a resident of Islamkati village, who is almost a hundred years old.
“He was a big businessman of his time. The building was turned into a post office in 1926 and later into a registry office.”
Surindranath Chakrabarty died in Kolkata before the partition of India and his family moved to India, leaving their thousand acres of land and other assets behind.
The old iron chest may have 150-year-old coins or documents inside it, assumes Babu Lal Ghosh, reports bdnews24.
Curious people from the surrounding neighbourhoods thronged into the old registry building at Islamkati Union after discovery of the chest. Upazila Nirbahi Officer Shazia Afrin was also present.
“The chest has been taken into police custody. We cannot tell what is inside. People from the Hindu community had once lived here. The chest could be from that time,” said OC Mehedi Russel.
The chest will be handed over to the Department of Archaeology, said the police official.
