Actor Chandrachur Singh seeks admin intervention in ancestral property dispute in Aligarh

Aligarh (UP), Dec 3 (PTI) Actor Chandrachur Singh, known for his roles in 1990s films including the hit "Maachis", has approached the Aligarh district administration over a family dispute over a sprawling ancestral estate dating back to the 19th century.

On Tuesday, Chandrachur Singh and his brother met Senior Superintendent of Police Neeraj Kumar and District Magistrate Sanjiv Ranjan. They were also accompanied by Singh's mother.

Speaking to reporters later, the actor said he feared "our ancestral haveli is being surreptitiously sold".

In a statement to PTI Videos on Wednesday, Singh said, "The DM sahib will look after us. We are fighting for justice because our ancestral land and haveli are under dispute.

"There is something wrong happening, and we have come to stop it. Whatever happens should be right and just." He added that the property was a joint family estate known as Kalyan Bhawan, dating back to 1885.

At the centre of the dispute is 'Kalyan Bhawan', a six-acre mansion built in 1885 after the Raja of Atrauli (Avagarh) gifted three villages to Thakur Kalyan Singh, the great-grandfather of Captain Baldev Singh -- former Aligarh MLA and father of Chandrachur Singh.

The estate, originally part of the erstwhile Jalalpur village, today lies within the urban limits of Aligarh.

Family members said divisions intensified over the years as the descendants of the late Captain Baldev Singh, a Doon School contemporary of former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi, came into conflict with the children of his youngest brother, Ganga Singh, a 1965 war veteran who left the Army in the late 1960s to manage the family's large estate.

Captain Baldev Singh, once a prominent Congress leader, left the party along with V P Singh in 1989. He later contested the Aligarh Lok Sabha seat on a Janata Dal ticket but lost narrowly to BJP's Sheela Gautam. His wife Krishna Devi hails from a royal family in Odisha.

According to relatives, Ganga Singh assumed control of the property in the late 1990s when Captain Baldev Singh was occupied with politics and later with the film production ventures of his sons Chandrachur and Abhimanyu Singh.

His aunt Gayatri Devi, who belongs to a royal family from Gujarat and is the divorced wife of the late Ganga Singh, also approached district authorities, challenging Chandrachur Singh's claims.

With the property now located in a densely populated area near a national highway, its value has risen sharply, intensifying the contest.

Both sides left Aligarh on Wednesday, setting the stage for what appears to be a prolonged legal battle over the historic mansion. PTI COR KIS KSS KSS