Labourers found ancient gold coins in a paddy field in Mahaboobnagar district during their working hours on Tuesday and distributed the booty among themselves.

The gold coins, whose period is not yet established, were found in unbroken pots underground in a paddy field under the jurisdiction of Kaluguntla village of Manapadu Mandalam when the labourers were weeding out the unwanted plants.

The labourers, who took the booty, tried to keep it a secret but the information was somehow leaked to the police by some villagers with in hours. Immediately, police had rushed to the spot and recovered 115 gold coins from the labourers.

Police said the weight of the coins ranged from 1 gram to 3 grams each and they had informed about the discovery to the officials of the archeological department. “With the help of the archeology department, we are trying to find if more gold coins are there in the fields there,” said a police official, adding that the period of the gold coins would be established by the archeological department.

However, it is not yet known how many gold coins were found in pots and how many are yet to be recovered by police. Some reports said the owner of the field where the booty was found is at large.