Malda, Aug. 2: Workers laying a water pipeline in Malda town's ward 22 yesterday evening dug up an earthen pitcher that contained what looked like old silver coins, which sparked a digging spree in the area and reports that local people had escaped with many of the coins.

This morning, Malda police launched a house-to-house search in the ward and seized a dozen coins.

No one has been arrested.

Under the Indian Treasure Trove Act, 1878, treasure found accidentally and of archaeological and historical value is to be handed over to the government. Under Section 20 of the act, any person who does not deposit such artefacts with district collectors or attempts to alter it or conceal its identity shall be tried before a magistrate and will be liable to face imprisonment that may extend up to one year or pay a fine or both.

Prakash Chandra Maity of state archaeology department said the coins could belong to the Bengal sultanate, and the script could be Arabic or Persian.

Kamal Basak, a retired history teacher of BT College in Malda, said the discovery of the coins was not unusual. "Malda has a rich history dating back centuries. I have seen the coins and it seems that they are made of silver. I cannot immediately tell their value.... The coins are probably from the Sena dynasty, going by the engravings on them that seem like Arabic script. The place where the coins were found is close to Arapur Kotwali where Ballal Sen, who ruled around 800 years ago, had a citadel."

According to Ansarul Islam, who was operating an excavator with the digging team laying the pipeline, around 6pm the pitcher was dug up. "At first I did not realise what had come up. Soon there was huge excitement among people in the area. By the time I got off the excavator, the coins had been looted. We were digging a trench about five-foot-deep," Islam said.

Ganesh Haldar, a resident of Sukantapally in ward 22 where the coins were found, said people came out of their houses with shovels and started digging up the road in the hope of finding more coins.

"I saw the pitcher full of old coins. They were slightly larger than the rupee coin we use now. Somehow, the pitcher broke and coins scattered. Many of the workers and local people fled with handfuls of them," Haldar said.

Tapati Biswas, a homemaker, said she too had collected a coin. "I returned the coin to the police who came to our house this morning," she said.

The Congress councillor of ward 22, Narendranath Tewari, said that he had gone to the area and asked local people to return the coins. "The coins are government property and could be of value. I told the residents of the area to return the coins to the police and the administration. So far 12 coins have been recovered," he said.

Sharad Dwivedi, the district magistrate, said the subdivisional officer had been asked to investigate the haul.