Man digs for treasure after dream, hits gold

Theresia Sufa, Bogor

A resident of Hulu Rawa, Bantarsari village in Rancabungur found 10 bars of gold after digging a hole in his kitchen last Thursday, each bears the picture of former president Sukarno.

Bogor Police have seized one of the gold bars to value it.

Saepudin, who is known as a soothsayer, claimed he heard a voice in his dream on Wednesday night, which told him to dig a hole under his kitchen.

He dug the hole assisted by two neighbors, saying that while he worked he could hear the voice of a man -- who said he was Haj Syapei -- encouraging him to pray and dig deeper.

"When the hole was three meters deep, we found two bars of gold -- and more until we reached four-and-a-half meters," Saepudin told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday.

"The voice told me to use most of the gold to help the poor so that I would go to heaven ... the rest I could use for my own interests," he added.

Besides the picture of Sukarno, each bar also bears the Indonesian symbol of prosperity: rice and cotton. On the front side "999.9 London 1 kg" is imprinted and "24 karat gold" on its left and right sides.

In March, Saepudin said, he found jewelry on his father's 200-square-meter property, which he donated to a Muslim boarding school.

A resident, Bolan, told the Post that Saepudin was a recovered alcoholic. The two had been ojek (motorcycle taxi) drivers.

"Last year he slept for four days, during which time he heard voices in his dreams. We thought he was dead -- afterward he had healing power."

Hamdani, a neighbor, said that Saepudin's father Emig Na'Amin was a oncom (fermented soy cake) maker and the poorest man in the area. "But he donated his land to a charity," Handami said.