Gold coins from the British empire era have been found in Jaunpur district of Uttar Pradesh during digging of a toilet pit inside the house of a woman in Kotwali area of the district, police said.

The family members of the woman Noor Jahan and labourers did not let anyone know about this incident that took place last week.

The police got information over the weekend and seized the coins.

All coins belong to the British empire (between 1889-1912). The police are interrogating the workers while some labourers are said to be absconding.

Noor Jahan, wife of Imam Ali Raini, was getting a pit dug for the construction of a toilet in her house.

During the digging, some coins were found in a copper vessel, after which the labourers started quarrelling among themselves.

According to the family, the labourers left the work in the middle.

The next day, the labourers returned and started digging again due to greed. In the meantime, a labourer told the son of Raini about getting gold coins. When he started asking, the labourers gave him a coin.

The Inspector-in-Charge reached the spot and started the investigation.

The police went to the labourers with Raini's son and inquired. The labourers at first denied any such incident, but when the police acted firmly the former revealed finding gold coins.

The labourers returned the gold coins to the police.

It is not yet clear how many coins were originally found in the copper pot. The police are interrogating the workers.

Macchlishahar Officer Atar Singh said, "I had gone to the spot. When the labourers were contacted, a total of 10 coins were found. All the coins have been deposited in the government treasury. The interrogation of the workers is underway." (AA/IANS)