Delhi Police have arrested three contractors in connection with the collapse of a three-storey under-construction building in Chawri Bazar that killed two workers and injured four people. The contractors were detained from Sirohi village in Faridabad after allegedly remaining absconding following the incident.
The accused have been identified as Siraj, Tajuddin and Furkan. Police said all three are residents of the Ajmeri Gate area in Old Delhi. A case has been registered under Section 105 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, relating to culpable homicide not amounting to murder.
The building in Gali Sheesh Mahal collapsed at around 9.48 am on Thursday. Delhi Police, the National Disaster Response Force, Delhi Fire Service and the Municipal Corporation of Delhi carried out a joint rescue operation at the site.
Two workers pulled from the debris, identified as Kishori, 40, and Sanjeet, 45, died in the incident. Two other injured people, Sahdev Chaudhary, 25, and Firoz, 37, were taken to hospital. Police said their condition was stable and that they were out of danger. The source report also states that two additional people were injured in the collapse.
The arrests followed instructions from Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta for an investigation and for a first information report to be registered against the contractor. She also directed officials to ensure treatment for the injured and provide immediate ex-gratia assistance to affected families. The Chief Minister said those found responsible would face strict action under the law.
The MCD subsequently suspended the junior engineer and assistant engineer associated with the area. The deputy commissioner of the Old Delhi zone said a prima facie case of serious negligence in the discharge of duties had been found against the two officials.
The case has also raised questions about whether an earlier warning about the site was acted upon. According to the report, the station house officer of Hauz Qazi police station wrote to the deputy commissioner of the MCD’s City SP zone on 15 June, informing the civic body about alleged unauthorised construction at the plot. The letter described new construction spread across approximately 70 square yards and named Furkan as the landowner and contractor.
The collapse comes amid a series of fatal building incidents in Delhi. The source report says three major collapses occurred between 6 September and 25 October, killing 13 people. Seven people died when a five-storey building used as a paying guest facility collapsed in Satya Niketan on 6 September. On 7 October, four people died when a four- to five-storey residential building collapsed in New Seemapuri. Another building-part collapse in Milan Garden, Harsh Vihar, on 25 October killed two people.
The arrests, departmental suspensions and investigation ordered by the Delhi government are now the immediate official actions in the Chawri Bazar case. Further proceedings will determine responsibility for the construction and whether the earlier civic warning was followed by enforcement action.
