Ayodhya, March 13
On the second day of excavation of the disputed site here, archaeologists came across a “shell” and “basal” and few brick marks of 1920s vintage even as the VHP dismissed the exercise as tedious and demanded the return of the acquired land on the basis of earlier evidence. After hours of slow-scalping in four into four metre trenches just opposite the make-shift temple, about 22 labourers under supervision of the Archaeological Survey of India team touched the floor of the demolished mosque at about four to five inch depth, sources said.
While a shell (Kaudi) and basal (Gomed), a precious stone, were found in the first trench, an imprint “V.N. Singh” of a brick kiln owner and ‘1924’ were seen in the third and fourth trenches respectively.
“The items have little relevance to the exercise aimed at finding whether a temple existed beneath the disputed structure as directed by the Allahabad High Court,” the sources said.
Both the shell and basal were put in a sealed polythene cover with signatures of all nine counsel or representatives of the contesting parties present at the time.
However, Superintending Archaeologist B.R. Mani heading the ASI team decided to proceed with the excavation at the existing trenches only after obtaining court orders as it would involve digging the floor of the demolished structure, the sources said.
Excavations at new trenches just adjacent to the present one would be carried out on Saturday as work would remain suspended tomorrow on account of Muharram.
Archaeologists Jayanti Prasad and Prakash Charan Prakash were present on behalf of the contesting Hindu parties while archaeologists R.C. Takran and Mohammed Abid represented the Muslim bodies.
Meanwhile, a restive VHP today expressed concern over the slow pace of the work and demanded that the acquired land be handed over to it on the basis of the supporting radar survey and relics.
PTI
