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Authorities in Rajasthan are destroying about 4,000 kilogram of gunpowder, stocked by the erstwhile rulers of Jaipur inside the historic Jaigarh Fort.
The operation was started on Wednesday in the barren land near village Nangal Susawatan at the outskirts of Amber town, the old capital of Jaipur State.
It will continue till Friday till the last of the sack containing the explosive is burnt under the supervision of experts.
The gunpowder was stocked in three rooms of the fort and it was considered a safety hazard for the tourists.
The fort is the private property of former ruler Sawai Bhawani Singh, who opened it for tourists about 15 years ago. Currently, it is being managed by a private trust established by the royal family.
Although nobody knows how long the gunpowder was lying inside the fort, old timers say it may be a century old.
Several sacks of explosive bore markings of manufacturers in England, those involved in the operation said.
The rulers of Jaipur had used the Jaigarh Fort, atop a hill adjacent to the Amber Fort, to stock booty brought from Afghanistan and south India.
In a bid to find the treasure, the Centre had conducted extensive diggings during the Emergency in the seventies. But they could only find a large number rifles inside a tank.
The fort used to house a unit for manufacturing guns after the Mughals brought the technology to India.
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