Officials of Saint Mary’s Academy have denied allegations of withholding a piece of land that complainant Tahir Iqbal claimed it sold to him.
In response to the filing of a case by Tahir Iqbal, Saint Mary’s Academy Rector Brig (retd) Samson Sharaf rejected the claims of the complainant, saying that the letter presented by him and bearing the signs of late Bishop Ruffian Anthony was forged.
In their letter to the Rawalpindi police chief, Brig Samson and another applicant Vicar Jacob Dogra stated that the land the academy is built on is church property and is, therefore, non-transferable under any circumstances. They added that the case of withholding the land from its alleged buyer was made out of thin air by land grabbers who wanted to get hold of over 2 kanal land of the academy and who also forged fake documents in this regard.
Brig Samson also denied allegations that officials of Saint Mary’s Academy were threatening their accusers, saying that the land grabbers were using tactics to pressurise the academy into giving in to their demands.
In their application to the police chief, Jacob and Samson claimed that they were being subjected to harassment by the local police and land mafia, and said that in case the matter was not resolved, they would have to avail other international options, such as approaching the Church with a victimisation of minorities’ complaint.
