When I was a kid,I heard a lot about treasures hidden in different parts of Assam in north east India.My teachers sometimes talk about British soldiers who hid their precious metals and other belongings in the riverbed or in the jungle when they were attacked and had to back off.Then there were the chinese and also the insurgents,who did the same.My elders say,they know people who got lucky and found those hidden articles,and now are rich.
Anyways,a few days ago,I met a childhood friend.He told me about something that happened to him recently.
Some person named ‘Mansur’ called him one day and told him he found a gold statue of jesus christ weighing more than 3 kilos,which he wanted to sell in the black market,and asked if he was interested in buying it,ofcourse, for a lower price.This was a hard offer to refuse.The asking price was 20 lakh rupees,but after a lot of bargaining,he settled for 3 lakh and another 10 lakh after the whole thing was sold.
My friend here was very happy, for such a wonderful oppurtunity had knocked in his door.Somehow he managed the amount and went to see Mansur.After seeing the item,the seller agreed on giving him some sample to ascertain its purity.So he bought it back to the city,had it tested,and yeah,it was real.
The next day he went back and bought the whole thing.It was in exactly the same shape…After the deal was over,someone came in hurrily and started shouting about a group of locals heading their way,with weapons.My friend was insisting on Mansur to come with him to the city,but the whole thing happened so quickly; he had no other way than fleeing out of there as soon as he could.By now you must have imagined what happened next!
The rest of the statue was fake.It turned black after a few hours.ALAS!
For a week he could not contact Mansur and then one day when he finally received the call he let my friend know, that he was not the first one to get trapped,that he had done it to others too.And that noone was going to find him again.
As much as I know him,he was always extra cautious but he got robbed.He got greedy and he had to pay the price.He went to the police but, useless…This could have surely happened to me or you too.We learned a lesson and we donot want that to happen to anybody else.So please talk about it with your friends and family and don’t let this happen to anybody else.This is the least we could do.Right?
sasanka datta sarma
