More arrests made in heritage school demolition case

KARACHI: The Counter Terrorism Department’s (CTD) team investigating the demolition of the heritage building of the Jufelhurst School in the Solider Bazaar area arrested another suspect on Thursday who had illegally purchased the land, while the hunt for two other fake owners is under way.

The Soldier Bazaar police lodged another FIR against unidentified accused on a complaint lodged by the school headmaster and the investigation of this case too was transferred to the CTD.

Talking to The News, Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) Amir Farooqi of CTD said that on Thursday the school headmaster, Mohammad Shafiq, also employed in the education department, registered an FIR against people allegedly involved in the demolition of the school.

He said that Shafiq, in his complaint, said that he was present at his residence when he received a call from residents that some men had entered the school premises with heavy machinery, including bulldozers, and were demolishing the walls.

On this, Shafiq rushed to the school and tried to stop the illegal demolition with the help of area people, but the accused persons started abusing him and also threatened him with murder.

Later, a Solider Bazaar police mobile with officers reached the scene. But they did not take any action and stood like silent spectators. The complainant further said that he also approached the Madadgar police and informed them about the behaviour of the Soldier Bazaar police. However, the accused had damaged the wall and moved away.

DIG Amir Farooqi said that the police had registered an FIR against unidentified accused and the investigation had been referred to the CTD.

He added that in the headmaster’s complaint it was clearly found that there was gross negligence on the part of the area police, who had not intervened to stop the demolition of the school’s wall.

Amir Farooqi also confirmed that they had arrested one of the recent owners, Zeeshan Altaf, who possessed 45 percent of shares while the hunt for the arrest of two others, Adnan and Abid, was underway. Further investigations are underway.

A day earlier,  DIG Farooqi had said that after receiving orders from the superiors to investigate and arrest those involved in damaging the heritage building of the school, he collected all the relevant documents and called those who were directly or indirectly involved in the crime.

He said the building belonged to a woman and her four children, and that it was in the name of Vincent D Abero. Investigations showed the family had settled in the United States in the late 70s, he added.

According to the initial investigations, police and revenue officials as well as the builder mafia were involved in the incident.DIG Farooqi said they had detained some officials of the revenue department, including a Mukhtiarkar and a surveyor, for questioning. The detainees were said to have told the inquiry team that in the year 2011, a private person, Sajjad Bashir, had come to the Revenue Office with a general power of attorney and claimed that the property had been sold to him by the family, who had also given him the power of attorney.

The revenue officials claimed that according to their record it was a private property and Bashir had asked them to divide the land, which is 4,321 square yards, into two parts. They said they had made the changes on his request.DIG Farooqi said the land was divided and a bungalow of 1,400 square yards and a bifurcation wall were built there.

Later, the revenue officials told the investigators that Bashir came to their office and sought an NOC (No Objection Certificate) by stating that he wanted to sell the land. They revenue officials gave the NOC without going through the legal procedure that includes issuing notices and placing advertisements in newspapers.

Moreover, upon that NOC the land was sold to three persons—Abid Shabbir, Zeeshan Altaf and Adnan Ali – for Rs2.54 crores, DIG Farooqi said and added that in this regard, they had formally arrested Ahmed Memon, Mukhtiarkar of Jamshed Quarters, and City Surveyor Ghulam Fareed Chohan. He added that they had found the involvement of police officials, including SHO Irshad Soomro and an assistant sub inspector (ASI) of the same police station, and had arrested them.

The DIG said SHO Soomro was posted at the same Police Station in the year 2011 when the bifurcation wall was constructed and at the time a secretary of the government department was also present and when the enquiry committee asked for his statement he narrated that he was not aware of the construction and when on the day his mobile officer had informed him he reached there and stopped the work of demolition.

Amir Farooqi said that the SHO Soomro had reached the spot at 2am where he stopped the work when the area residents were protesting; interestingly the SHO had not arrested the persons there who were involved in the crime and just left them without taking action against them due to which he posed gross negligence. He was informed about the offence earlier upon his arrival and was in contact with the mobile officer who is an ASI.

He said however raids and investigations are underway for the arrest of other culprits involved in the crime.