Building collapses in Old Delhi: Death toll rises to 6, building owner held

NDRF recovers a body from the site where a portion of an under construction building collapsed in Delhi’s Chawri Bazaar area. (Source: ANI/ PTI screengrab)

As rescue operations continued for the third consecutive day, four more persons were pulled out from the debris of the collapsed building in Old Delhi’s Chawri Bazar area on Saturday, taking the total death toll to six. The Delhi Police also arrested the building owner in connection with the incident on Saturday.

The building owner has been identified as Saimullah alias Ayub, a resident of Gali Shish Mahal near Ajmeri Gate. His arrest comes a day after three contractors — Siraj, Tajuddin and Furkan — were arrested from Sirohi village in Haryana’s Faridabad district. All three contractors are also residents of the Ajmeri Gate area, police said.

The latest victims have been identified as Pankaj Sharma, resident of village Bhosawaha in Bihar’s Khagaria district; Vipin Ram, resident of Saket Block in Mandawali, Delhi; Shantu, son of Shankar Mukhiya, resident of Hanuman Nagar village in Khagaria district; and Dinesh Sah, resident of Tola Hanuman Nagar in Bihar’s Khagaria district.

The rescue operation continued late into Saturday, with police suspecting that more bodies could be recovered from beneath the debris.

On the challenges to rescue efforts, DCP Central Rohit Rajbir Singh said the narrow lane leading to the building, which is barely four to five feet wide, has made the operation difficult. He said the debris was being removed carefully to ensure that no further damage was caused to surrounding structures and that the safety of anyone who might still be trapped beneath the rubble was not compromised. He added that the process was time-consuming, with multiple agencies continuing to work at the site, and the rescue operation was likely to continue until late Sunday night.

The three-storey under-construction building collapsed on Thursday morning at around 9:48 am in Gali Sheesh Mahal, near Chawri Bazar Metro station. The incident triggered a massive rescue operation involving the Delhi Police, Delhi Fire Services, National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD).

Police have registered a case under Section 105 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), which deals with culpable homicide not amounting to murder. Investigators are examining the circumstances under which construction work was being carried out at the property and whether violations of building norms or negligence led to the collapse.

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In June, the Delhi Police had written to MCD highlighting that the building was being constructed illegally. Following the collapse, the civic body has suspended two engineers, an assistant engineer and a junior engineer, pending an inquiry into alleged lapses.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Rekha Gupta also directed officials to conduct a detailed investigation into the incident and take strict action against those found responsible.