Bid to gobble up school land

Bid to gobble up school land
By R Venkatesh,DH News Service,Bangalore:
A 76-year-old school in the heart of the City is in the eye of a storm as attempts were made on Saturday to gobble up a part of the land belonging to the school.

Kamala Bai Girls School on Connaught Road, off Queen’s Road, functioning since 1930, has title deeds to the land measuring 7.8 acre, worth several crores of rupees. But, some persons allegedly tried to occupy a portion of the land belonging to the school.
Compound pulled
On Saturday night, the school security guards and trustees noticed some ‘trespassers’ pulling down a part of the compound of the school.
They began digging the earth, apparently to build some structure.
Following a complaint with the High Grounds police, the work was stopped. Police have confiscated a few JCBs, excavators, building material and other equipment. No arrests have been made so far.
The trustees of the school told Deccan Herald, “Our school was built on 7.8 acres of land and is functioning since 1930. More than 2,200 students are studying from kindergarten to college. There has been no hassle with regard to the titles to the land.”
The school authorities suspect a person in the neighbourhood behind the attempt. A case of trespass was registered against him in 1998, as he was in the habit of letting his cattle graze inside the school.
The school claimed that it has a permanent injunction against the trespasser.
Civil dispute
DCP (Central) B N S Reddy said, “It is a civil dispute and we don't have any say in it. We have told both the parties to maintain status quo. Let them get the relevant records and settle it themselves.”
Meanwhile, a police official said, a person by name T Harry Dias had produced a letter dating back to 1908, in which it was claimed that land measuring 3 acres 29 guntas had been given to his grandfather Subedar Paul Sabestian by the Ministry of Defence.
The police are verifying the claim.