Jufelhurst school case: Anti-corruption court approves interim charge-sheet against suspects

KARACHI: A provincial anti-corruption court approved on Monday an interim charge-sheet against five people for allegedly demolishing a public school building in Soldier Bazaar in a bid to encroach upon the land.

The heritage-declared building of the Jufelhurst Government School was demolished on April 9 allegedly at the behest of three people, Adnan Ali, Abid Shabbir and Zeeshan Altaf, who claimed to be owners of the property.

Initially registered under the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997, the case was later transferred to the Anti-Corruption Establishment (ACE) for an inquiry since the matter appeared controversial due to fraudulent factors.

ACE charge-sheeted the three people who claimed to be the owners of the land as well as an estate agent, Muhammad Amin, and a sub-registrar of Jamshed Town, Zulfiqar Keerio. Among them Ali, Shabbir and Amin are in jail, Altaf has obtained bail and Keerio is absconding.

According to the prosecution, Ali, who is an inspector at the Federal Investigation Agency, along with nearly a dozen people, had gone to the site late on the night of April 9 and moved heavy machinery on the property to demolish the structure.

They managed to demolish the building in the dark, apparently in collusion of the local police, since the police did not take any action to stop them. This was despite the fact that the sweeper of the school and neighbours kept protesting at the scene, the prosecution said.

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The anti-corruption court judge accepted the charge-sheet against the suspects and issued non-bailable warrants of arrest for the absconding suspect.

Meanwhile, the court also directed investigators to complete their investigation at the earliest so the trial could be started.

Source: The Express Tribune