Investigators wonder how the nationalised property was bifurcated and sold
In collusion with the builder mafia, some government officials have been attempting to weaken the Jufel Hurst Government High School demolition investigation and thereby clinching the release of the people hitherto arrested, The News learnt on Sunday.
A senior investigating officer said Sajjad Bashir – who holds the power of attorney of the whole property – and District East revenue officers had been trying to demolish the school since 2011 with the connivance of the mafia to construct multi-storeyed buildings on the site.
The IO said that in 2011 Bashir tried to declare the entire school as a dangerous structure and obtained orders for its demolition through the Sindh Building Control Authority (SBCA). “On resistance from the locals, however, the plan failed.”
The officer said that the next year Bashir got the whole plot bifurcated with the help of revenue officials, thereby declaring the old bungalow separate from the school, knowing full well that the entire property, including the bungalow, had been declared a heritage site.
He said Bashir tried to demolish the school a second time in 2015 when he obtained its orders from the Karachi Building Control Authority, but he failed again.
He added that the present owners of the bungalow had not bought it to run it as a school. “They had bought it to demolish it and construct a residential building on the site.”
Confirming these details, DIG Amir Farooqi of Sindh’s Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) told The News that the bungalow owners were frontmen for the city’s builder mafia. “There is no doubt about the criminal intent of Bashir, the bungalow owners and the revenue officials behind the demolition.”
DIG Farooqi said the mafia was hiring people from the legal fraternity to pressurise the judiciary into getting a favourable verdict. “They are trying to block the remand of the accused so that the case could not be investigated properly.”
He added that demolition of an old structure within the school premises between the night of April 8 and 9 was a terrible violation of the law and a trespass on a public school that was protected under the Sindh Cultural Heritage (Preservation) Act 1994.
He said the site had served as a school since 1931. “It was an initiative of a socially conscious family working for the cause of education in the country. The school’s subsequent nationalisation brought it under the Sindh Education Department’s management. The school continued to run, while its owner resided on the first floor until she passed away.”
The CTD officer said that various old structures within the premises suffered due to lack of specialised maintenance.
“In 2011 the SBCA declared the old buildings endangered. At this time an attorney of the owners appeared and asked for demolishing one of the old blocks. The move was opposed by the citizens. Observing the attorney’s ulterior motives, the school and the high court snubbed him for his contradictory assertions.”
He added that the alumni and other well-wishers asked the culture department to protect the property as cultural heritage, adding that the property was subsequently declared as protected heritage in 2016.
The school’s history
The DIG said the school magazine gave an interesting account of Sybil D’Abero starting the educational institution on her ancestral property. “She lived on the upper floor and ran classes on the ground floor. The school continued to flourish and a couple of blocks were added later to accommodate the institution’s expansion.”
He added that after nationalisation all structures were taken over as per policy, but Sybil continued to live there, and the classes and the laboratories functioned in the house and the blocks under the new administration.
“Reportedly, the property was sold and purchased, raising concerns as to how a nationalised property was sold and purchased without informing the custodian department.”
Farooqi said nationalisation was quite a comprehensive action and according to the relevant regulations, not only the school building but the associated structures also could not be sold or bought under any agreement following September 1972.
‘A clandestine affair’
The CTD officer said the revenue officials did not take into account the fact that the school was nationalised and they did not bother to safeguard the rights of the various stakeholders.
“They not only allowed the sale and purchase but also allowed the new purchasers to further sell the property within a month’s time without bringing these facts into the government’s notice.”
He said the buyers conspired with the local police and went ahead with the demolition of the bungalow, bringing armed people and heavy machinery. “The residents resisted the action and their intervention put a halt to it.”
DIG Farooqi said there was no documentary proof of the property’s division into a school and a bungalow. “This must be a clandestine affair. How can a nationalised property that was taken over under the Martial Law Regulations 1972 be subdivided? Moreover, how could it happen without taking the custodians, the education department and the provincial government, on board?”
It is also unclear how the school’s nationalisation was not known to the revenue officials who, after their enquiries and visits to the site, were content to allow the property’s subdivision, he added.