As many as 47 silver bricks were recovered from the famous Emar Mutt of Puri on Saturday. The recovered materials also included ornaments, utensils and swords which had been kept beneath the floors of rooms.
Excavations were still going on and would continue on Sunday with officials starting inventory of the recovered materials and their valuations. Each silver brick weighed 30 kg with logo of the East India Company printed on them.
The excavation was conducted by officials of the Endowment Department, a newly-formed trust board of the mutt and police. During the excavations, Emar Mutt chief Mahant Ramanuja Das was present though he has been discharged of all powers within the mutt by the Endowment Department with the appointment of the trust board members.
The trust consists of heads of various mutts and monasteries in Puri. They would look after the mutt onwards.
Notably, as many as 522 silver bricks of same weight each had already been recovered from the Emar Mutt in 2011 and are now in the locker of district administration.
Except the endowment officials, new trustees and police, nobody wasallowed inside the mutt. Even the lawyer of Mahant Ramanuja Das has been barred from entry into the mutt during excavation. At about 11 am, the endowment officials entered the premises and opened four rooms one after the other. The silver bricks were found kept with the bags under the ground.
However, Mahant Ramanuja’s lawyer Biswajit Senapati contended that the excavation was illegal and said they would move court for criminalcontempt against the officials engaged in works as they have allegedly breached an order of the High Court.