After a top level inquiry was ordered into the demolition of an old bungalow building inside Jufelhurst School in Karachi's Soldier Bazaar on Monday, the 'owners' of the plot upon which the structure rested have claimed it was never declared "protected heritage."

The 'owners' of the plot in a letter addressed to the deputy commissioner (District East) alleged that a notification issued by the Culture Department of Sindh in 2016 declaring the school a heritage site was inapplicable to the demolished building which, they claimed, rested on a plot that had been bifurcated from the school in 2012.

According to the letter, the Karachi Building Control Authority said in 2011 that plots number 325 and 356 which housed both Jufelhurst Primary and Secondary School and an old bungalow, were declared "dangerous" after an inspection by a technical committee on dangerous buildings.

The school and its owners were directed to vacate the property by the KBCA in 2011 but no heed was paid to the order, the letter claimed.

Following the order, the bifurcation of plot number 356 was requested by the then owners in 2012.

Subsequently, the site was bifurcated on the orders of the assistant commissioner Jamshed Quarters Karachi into plots GRE-365 ─ on which the school building rested ─ and GRE-365/1─ where the old bungalow, now demolished, was situated.

"The Jufelhurst Government Secondary School is situated at Garden East Quarters on plots number 356 and 325, where the plot number 356/1, adjacent to the above school, is not the property of school," the letter said.

In 2016, a notification issued by the Sindh Cultural Department declared the Jufelhurst School standing at GRE-365 a cultural heritage site, the letter said.

The old bungalow, "officially separated from the school during the bifurcation," was not declared "protected heritage," the letter explained, clarifying that the demolished building is not the property of Jufelhurst School.

In 2016, plot 365/1 holding the old bungalow was apparently purchased by the current owners, Muhammad Abid Shabbir, Zeeshan and Adnan Ali, through a sale deed executed in October the same year.

When asked about the claims made in the letter, school principal Muhammad Shafiq said that documents showing the old bungalow to be a cultural heritage site have been submitted.

"The wall demolished was a school boundary wall," he added.

When asked about the 2012 bifurcation, the principal added that to his knowledge, no such development ever occurred.

Station House Officer (SHO) Irshad Soomro had earlier told Dawn that certain people claimed that they had ‘purchased the bungalow’ but they did not show any proof to support their statements. He added that the demolition work being done at night raised suspicions regarding the incident.

While speaking to Dawn, the school principal had also said that SHO Soomro had arrived on the spot with a police party and stopped the demolition work, but a significant portion of the historic building had been razed by then.

Shafiq said that on Sunday morning the same people returned and destroyed the remaining portion of the heritage site.

He maintained the school was declared a heritage site by the Sindh government in 2012 and the bungalow was also a part of it.

In 1931, the Jufelhurst School was established by Sybil D’Abreo on nearly one acre of land in what was then known as Cincinnatus town, a Christian neighbourhood, in the city.

Late on Saturday night, some 40 to 50 people began the demolition of the old bungalow inside Jufelhurst School premises, prompting authorities to move against the suspects involved in the act.

Inspector General of Sindh Police A.D. Khawaja on Monday launched a "discreet enquiry" into the demolition of the building as activists and citizens in Karachi expressed their shock and anger over the move.

The Sindh Police on Tuesday transferred the investigation of the demolition of the old building to the Counter Terrorism Department (CTD).

The case has been handed over to PSP Munir Shiekh at the CTD.

Locals gathered at the site and informed police and education department officials about it, said the historic school’s principal.

PC-I for repairs of the heritage school has been approved and required funds have also been released.

The repair and renovation work of the Jufelhurst School was supposed to begin in the next 10 to 15 days but on late Saturday night the suspects bulldozed the building.