Madikeri: Real estate in expanding cities and towns is of enormous value. More valuable is it when it yields buried treasures. In the quest of one such treasure, a family in Kodagu dug up their own house and getting wind of it, the Police have arrested two persons now.

Twenty-three-year-old M.R. Ganesh and 43-year-old B.K. Sadiq have been picked up for digging a hole under the house to retrieve a treasure trove at Holamala village near Chennayyanakote of Siddapura. The arrests were made by the Siddapura Police and District Crime Information Bureau (DCIB). While Ganesh does centring works, Sadiq hailed from Hanchinadka in Padubidri of Udupi district.

Ganesh had contacted certain people from Mangaluru and Kerala who practice occult as he believed that the earth under his house had treasures buried deep. Many occultists from the neighbouring State and Mangaluru had even visited Ganesh’s house. Ganesh later came in contact with Sadiq who confirmed that there is indeed a treasure and the duo decided to dig the earth.

They chose the bedroom and started digging and since some days, they have been successful in digging about 15 ft. The Police got information about some activity like digging inside the house, especially in the night with lights on. People living nearby too had heard a consistent digging sound. The mud yielded from the digging was deposited in other rooms so that there is no suspicion.

The Police raid revealed that before the duo started digging the room, they sacrificed a rooster, praying for occult forces. The duo have confessed that in the coming days, they were planning to give a bigger sacrifice for the treasure to show up and for this, they had contacted more people who knew black magic.

Police said that due to constant digging, the foundation of the house had become weak and there was a danger of the structure collapsing. Most of the digging work was done after dark and the duo would rest during daytime.

Police said that initial investigation has revealed that there are more persons involved in the racket and efforts were on to arrest them. The Police have recovered several digging equipment and also materials used to perform black magic.

The arrests were led by DICB Inspector I.P. Medappa and Madikeri Circle Inspector P.V. Venkatesh.