Century-old school building vandalised, police book several

A century-old school building in Dalibagh was vandalized by 20-25 people. Two suspects named in an FIR deny involvement; ownership is disputed.

A nearly century-old building, the premises of which was used as a school until a few years ago, located in a posh locality of Dalibagh on Rana Pratap Marg here was vandalised by 20-25 people, police said. The private property is situated on a disputed land.

The property is located on Rana Pratap Marg of Dalibagh

While the incident was said to have taken place over 10 days ago, the Hazratganj police, however, lodged an FIR against the incident on Tuesday. Two of the 20-25 men charged were named in the FIR. A written complaint regarding the vandalism was given on August 25, said Hazratganj SHO Vikram Singh. “The court will decide who owns the land. However, CCTV footage is being scanned as to who damaged the property.”

In the FIR, the named accused are Majahir Hussain, an advocate in a civil court, Nageshwar Singh alias Kunwar Rajesh Singh. They, however, refuted the allegations of vandalising the building.

The complainant said the caretaker of the building witnessed men entering the premises with hammer, pickaxe, shovel, pickaxe and spade, and ransacked and vandalised the building. The complainant, Narendra Kumar Pandey, is the secretary of Durga Prasad Nigam Domestic Science School Society, a trust that claims to have the property’s rights.

Colonel Sanjiv Misra, who’s associated with the trust, said the property was bought by his grandfather Pandit Sridhar Mishra, who was a senior advocate in the high court in 1932. “The property was passed on to my father and then to my uncle post my father’s demise. After my uncle’s demise in February, I have the rightful ownership,” said Colonel Misra. He said he has valid documents supporting the ownership of the said property.

On the other hand, S. Majahir Hussain, an accused in the alleged vandalism, refuted the charges and said, “I was at my home and whoever vandalised and ransacked the property is not known to us.” He added that the property belonged to one Siri Sambul Hasan Khan for which he had documents. “We will continue to fight for the ownership in court,” he added.