Betul, Jan. 16 -- A private school built by a man from Madhya Pradesh with nearly Rs 20 lakh of his own savings was partially demolished in Betul district's Dhaba village over rumours and complaints that it was an illegally run "madrasa."

The school was a passion project of resident Abdul Naeem, who put his entire savings into its construction but ended up seeing it demolished on January 13 as bulldozers razed the structure under the orders of senior officials.

Naeem wanted to give the children of the village and neighbouring tribal hamlets a chance at quality education, from nursery to Class 8, with some students coming to the educational institute from miles away.

"I had decided to construct the school on my private land so that my v...