Delhi Police have arrested three contractors after a construction-stage building collapsed in Chawri Bazar, killing two people and leaving five others feared trapped beneath the debris, according to officials. The rescue operation is continuing in Gali Sheesh Mahal, where the National Disaster Response Force and Delhi Municipal Corporation personnel are working at the site.
The arrested contractors have been identified as Siraj, Tajuddin and Furqan. Police detained them from Sirohi village in Faridabad district in connection with a case registered under Section 105 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, relating to culpable homicide not amounting to murder.
The collapse took place at about 10.30 am on Thursday in the Old Delhi neighbourhood. Five people were injured in the incident, according to the report, while two people died. Sub-Divisional Magistrate Manoj Kumar said on Thursday that five people were still believed to be trapped in the basement. Four people had been rescued by the time of his statement.
Kumar said the building stood on a small plot and had reached four storeys. He said temporary supports, known as centring, appeared to have been removed before the concrete and construction debris had dried or set. “It seems that the centring was removed while the debris or concrete was still wet, because of which it collapsed,” Kumar said, adding that the wet debris had since hardened inside the basement.
The suspected construction sequence is being examined as part of the investigation. The report also said that unauthorised construction on the second and third floors collapsed first, bringing down the rest of the structure. The exact cause will be established through the police investigation and official assessment.
Rescue teams faced significant operational difficulties because the building is located at the end of a dead-end lane reportedly only three feet wide. The narrow access prevents motor vehicles, rescue trucks and heavy earth-moving equipment from reaching the site directly. Emergency teams installed floodlights and continued operations through the night while searching the rubble.
Around 30 personnel from the NDRF and the MCD were involved in the rescue operation at the time of the SDM’s statement. The density of the surrounding settlement and the hardened debris in the basement have complicated efforts to locate and extract anyone who may remain trapped.
The arrests place responsibility for the construction activity at the centre of the immediate police action, while the rescue operation remains the priority. Officials have not announced a final casualty count or completed the assessment of the building and adjoining structures. The NDRF and MCD are expected to continue search-and-rescue work at the Chawri Bazar site.
