Unscrupulous elements try to illegally grab school land

Despite two FIRs and the local court’s order to maintain status quo, several persons damaged boundary wall of the playground of a private school — Lake Head Public School — belonging to a Canada-based NRI Amandeep Singh Sandhu and his wife Uravashi located on Ram Tirath Road here in an attempt to illegally grab it.

What is alarming is that the local police did not take any action even though a complaint was filed in this regard, alleged Shivalika Dhillon, principal and the co-owner of the school. “Not once but twice, the accused demolished the boundary wall in two days. Overall it was fourth attempt by the accused. Though a complaint was filed at the police station, no cop visited the site or registered an FIR against the perpetrators of the crime,” she alleged.

“The accused, who have several criminal cases of similar nature registered against them, cared two hoots to the court’s order,” she said.

First FIR was registered by the NRI police on September 14, 2024, Among those booked included Hardayal Singh Pandori, Lalli Kabal Singh of Kohali village here, Manjit Singh Hansowala of Hansowala village in Khadoor Sahib and their unknown accomplices. The second FIR was registered against Sukhjit Singh of Kohala village on November 4, 2024, apart from his unidentified companions.

Dhillon said the court had asked both the parties to maintain status quo regarding their possession over the suit property in December last year. She urged the Police Commissioner (CP) and senior officials to help as the case pertains to the life and security of teachers and students of the school.

Earlier, Amandeep Singh had sought intervention of Chief Minister and the Punjab Police DGP after several persons who attempted to grab his ancestral property by manipulating and fabricating the land records. The school has been functioning for past nearly four decades there.

He said his father, Dr Avtar Singh, a former professor at historic Khalsa College started the school in 1980’s after his return from Canada with a mission to provide quality education to poor kids in the rural belt. He said two years ago he passed away. He said they were shocked to learn that a land grabbing mafia tried to manipulate the school’s land records in-order to grab the school property. Police Commissioner Gurpreet Singh Bhullar said a case would be registered in this connection.