Delhi Police have arrested three contractors after a three-storey building under construction collapsed in Gali Sheesh Mahal in Old Delhi’s Chawri Bazar, with two deaths confirmed and concerns that more workers could be trapped under the debris.
The arrested men have been identified as Siraj, Tajuddin and Furkan. According to the police, all three are residents of Sirohi village in the Dauज tehsil area of Faridabad district. They were arrested in connection with the case registered under Section 105 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, the report said.
The collapse took place at a construction site in the densely built Chawri Bazar area, where narrow lanes and closely packed buildings can make emergency access and debris removal difficult. The supplied report does not provide details about the building’s owner, the approved construction plan, the site’s permissions or the exact circumstances that led to the structure giving way.
Rescue and clearance operations were under way, with personnel from the National Disaster Response Force, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi and other rescue teams involved in removing the rubble. The report said the authorities were continuing their investigation into the incident.
AAP legislator Ale Mohammad Iqbal said two people had been confirmed dead in the collapse. He also said that some families of migrant workers had reported their relatives missing and that there was a possibility that they could be trapped beneath the debris. These claims were attributed to the legislator in the report; the supplied material does not provide an independent official count of missing people or confirm whether additional victims were found.
The incident has also renewed questions about construction safety in the capital’s older and highly congested neighbourhoods. Iqbal called for stricter laws and said building regulations in Delhi needed to be enforced more rigorously. He also questioned the role of the MCD and alleged that weaknesses in the existing system had allowed construction-related risks to persist.
The legislator proposed a special task force to monitor construction activity across Delhi. He said such a force should remain active around the clock throughout the year and inspect building work across the city. The proposal was made in response to the collapse and does not represent an announced government policy in the material supplied for this report.
The police investigation will determine the specific responsibility of the arrested contractors and examine the circumstances surrounding the construction work. Rescue teams and civic personnel are continuing debris-removal operations at the Chawri Bazar site.
