A relic recovered during an excavation at Senduwar village in Rohtas 25 years ago. Picture by Sanjay Choudhary

Patna, July 14: Residents of Senduwar, the Rohtas village where it “rains gold”, have reasons to cheer 25 years after the first excavation to unravel the mystery was carried out.

Rohtas incumbent district magistrate (DM) Sandeep Kumar R. Pudalkalkatti has written to art, culture and youth affairs secretary Chanchal Kumar, requesting him to order scientific excavation at the historic sites of Senduwar village in Shivsagar block, around 180km southwest from here.

The “golden” village caught the attention of senior officials of the department concerned following a report in The Telegraph’s June 23, 2013 edition. Subsequently, the department ordered a probe and sought a report from the district administration. Pudakalkatti, through the letter dated July 9, a copy of which is in the possession of The Telegraph, has assigned Sasaram sub-divisional officer (SDO) Nalin Kumar to conduct a thorough investigation on the basis of the newspaper report. A happy Abhay Kumar Rai, the mukhiya of Sonhar panchayat, said: “Good days are ahead for the people of Senduwar. Luck will smile on them once the village is declared a tourist spot,” he added. He said the local residents had earlier called on senior officials of both district and also the department concerned but nothing happened. “But this time, both seem to be sensitive towards our demand,” he said.

The DM, in his report, said Senduwarians rushed outside the village after every downpour to gather particles of gold and other precious metals and stones. “In the present context, scientific excavations at the sites around the mound appear to be justified,” the letter said, adding that the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) had never conducted the survey earlier.

The SDO visited the village along with Shivsagar block development officer Arvind Kumar Singh and circle officer Arun Kumar Rai on July 9. The team found an ancient mound at the village, which according to the mukhiya and other residents, was excavated by a team of archaeologists from Banaras Hindu University (BHU) in 1986-87 and 1989-90 respectively.

The report submitted by the SDO revealed that Senduwarians provided the team a copy of a book Early Farming Communities of the Kaimur, written by senior BHU archaeologist Birendra Pratap Singh.

The BHU excavations in 1986-87 and 1989-90, the report said, found Ashok Sheela Stambh, Buddha statues and other historical artefacts besides hunting tools such as sickle, axe, spear, knife and arrowheads made of iron and stones.