'Complan' for kids stolen by Shivajinagar school mgmt

Five members of the management board of a 108-year-old school are accused of stealing 10 Complan boxes meant to be given to schoolchildren.

Paramjeet Singh, honorary secretary, Friend In Need Society (FINS), the trust that runs Colonel Hill English High School, Colonel Hill Road, Shivajinagar, has filed a police complaint about the theft of Rs 87,000 worth of powdered milk powder. He has named Ashley Vardon, Lauren Ann Ramji, Winston Corneille, Marlene Jhan and Alan Jones, all members of the management board.

The Shivajinagar police have traced them to Mangaluru but are yet to arrest them. The school has around 950 students.

According to police, the misappropriation goes back to August 2018 when a charity nonprofit ‘Rise Against Hunger’ gifted 72 boxes of Complan for the students of the school. Each box had 30 half-kilogram packets of Complan. As per Singh’s complaint, the board members stole 10 boxes, worth about Rs 87,000.

When the trust learnt about the misappropriation, a meeting of the general body was convened on August 25, 2018, and a no-confidence motion was passed against the five people.

Subsequently, the FINS barred them from the management and the society for 10 years.

The FINS now thought it prudent to prosecute the members. A senior police officer they would question the suspects soon. “We are still investigating what did they do with the Complan boxes,” the officer told DH.