The owner of the building that collapsed in Delhi’s Satya Niketan, killing seven people, has been apprehended from Bhiwadi in Rajasthan, marking a major development in the police investigation into the deadly incident.
Delhi Police took Hariram Gupta into custody on Monday after tracing him to Bhiwadi. Investigators are now questioning him as they examine the circumstances surrounding the collapse and the alleged violations linked to the construction and maintenance of the building.
Gupta had earlier become the focus of the investigation after police issued a lookout notice to locate him. Authorities are also probing the role of other individuals in connection with the incident.
Building owner booked as police probe construction violations
Police have registered a case against Gupta and others at South Campus Police Station. The case includes allegations relating to culpable homicide, negligence in maintaining the structure and actions that allegedly put the safety of other people at risk.
The investigation is expected to examine whether the building was constructed and maintained in accordance with applicable regulations and whether authorities or those responsible for the property ignored warning signs before the collapse.
The structure, located in a resettlement colony, stood on a plot measuring approximately 55 square yards. According to information from the Municipal Corporation of Delhi, the building had four floors above the ground floor despite the earlier permission reportedly being limited to a ground-plus-one structure.
Officials have also said that there was no approved building plan for the structure, raising serious questions about how the multi-storey building was allowed to remain in use.
Five-storey PG building collapses during repair work
The decades-old structure was being used as a paying guest accommodation for boys near Delhi University’s South Campus.
The building came crashing down at around 1:30 pm on Sunday while repair work was reportedly underway. The sudden collapse trapped people beneath the debris and prompted a large-scale emergency response.
Delhi Police said 12 people had been rescued from the site, while seven people lost their lives in the disaster.
Rescue teams continued operations as multiple agencies worked through the debris. Delhi Police, Delhi Fire Service, the National Disaster Response Force and the Delhi Disaster Management Authority were among the agencies involved in the emergency operation.
The incident has raised fresh concerns over the safety of old and unauthorised structures being used as residential or accommodation facilities in densely populated parts of the national capital.
Delhi government announces structural safety crackdown
The Satya Niketan collapse has also triggered action at the administrative level.
Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta has announced a new policy requiring structural audits of buildings being used for public purposes. The proposed safety checks will also cover paying guest accommodations, an important step given the number of students and young professionals living in such facilities across Delhi.
The move is aimed at identifying structurally unsafe buildings before they become sites of further tragedies.
Five MCD officials suspended after deadly collapse
The Delhi government has already taken disciplinary action against five officials of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi following the incident.
Those suspended include officials from different levels of the civic administration, including Deputy Commissioner Rakesh Kumar of the South Zone, Superintending Engineer Ranveer Singh, Executive Engineer Lalit Kumar Goyal, Assistant Engineer Sunil Chauhan and Junior Engineer Ashish Kumar.
The suspensions have intensified scrutiny of the civic body’s role in monitoring construction activity and enforcing building safety regulations in the area.
With the building owner now in police custody, investigators are expected to focus on the chain of responsibility surrounding the property, including its construction, use as a PG accommodation, repair work and alleged violations.
The case has consequently expanded beyond the immediate rescue operation, with the authorities now facing pressure to establish how a reportedly unauthorised multi-storey structure continued to operate before collapsing and claiming seven lives.
