New Delhi: The owner of the building that collapsed in Delhi’s Satya Niketan has been arrested from Bhiwadi in Rajasthan, a police officer said on Monday.
The multi-storey building, which housed a boys’ paying guest (PG) accommodation, collapsed at around 1.30 pm on Sunday during repair work. Twelve people have so far been rescued from the debris, while seven have died.
A senior Delhi Police officer said the building owner, Hari Ram Gupta, was apprehended in Bhiwadi and is being questioned further.
CCTV captures moment of collapse
The terrifying moment when the building collapsed was captured on CCTV. The footage, recorded at around 1.15 pm, shows a street vendor sitting beside his cart before suddenly looking up, getting to his feet and running away.
Within seconds, the building comes crashing down, sending a massive cloud of dust and debris across the busy locality and trapping people underneath the rubble.
MCD suspends five senior officials
The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) has also taken disciplinary action following the deaths. Five senior officials of its South Zone have been suspended with immediate effect.
Those suspended include South Zone Deputy Commissioner Rakesh Kumar, the superintendent engineer, executive engineer (building), assistant engineer (building) and junior engineer (building).
The suspension orders state that the officials will be entitled to subsistence allowance during the period of suspension as per applicable rules.
Separately, the MCD has declared another building in Satya Niketan “dangerous” following the fatal collapse and ordered its demolition within three days.
