Satya Niketan collapse: PG operators on the run; site contractor held

A Delhi Police investigation in connection with the collapse of a boys paying guest (PG) accommodation in Satya Niketan found that the five-floor building was being operated by two business partners who had taken the property on lease in August 2025 and are currently absconding, even as a labour contractor was held from Uttar Pradesh on Tuesday

A Delhi Police investigation in connection with the collapse of a boys paying guest (PG) accommodation in Satya Niketan found that the five-floor building was being operated by two business partners who had taken the property on lease in August 2025 and are currently absconding, even as a labour contractor was held from Uttar Pradesh on Tuesday.

MCD personnel installing temporary structural supports in buildings adjacent to the Satya Niketan collapse site. (Sanchit Khanna/HT Photo)

Police said that the labour contractor, identified as Sanoj, who was allegedly supervising the “repair” work in the basement of the building, which allegedly resulted in the collapse, was apprehended for Kasganj and was brought to Delhi, where he will be arrested.

“The basement floor was being repaired as the waste was getting accumulated during the rainy season for the past 8-10 days. The ground floor was being repaired for extension for commercial purposes,” said deputy commissioner of police (south west) Amit Goel.

This comes a day after Delhi Police arrested the owner of the building Hariram Gupta (81), his wife Urmila (75), and his son Mahesh (52) from Rajasthan’s Bhiwadi. While the couple were sent to 14-day judicial custody, Mahesh was sent to two-day police custody by Patiala House Court.

During interrogation, Mahesh allegedly shared the rent agreement made between his mother, the building owner, and two PG operators, identified as Shubham Tyagi and Sudhanshu, both originally from Uttar Pradesh.

“It has been revealed that these two men were operating the PG under the name Hostel Daze. At least three more PGs under the same name had been operating in the neighbourhood until the collapse,” said one officer aware of the details of the investigation.

One officer aware of the investigation said at least one person was employed at the property and wasn’t present at the time of the incident. Police are trying to ascertain the location of all accused “to establish whether they were present at the spot and fled without making any efforts to save the lives of students trapped inside,” the officer said.

The probe has revealed that there were seven rooms spread across four floors — two each on the first, second, and third floors, and one on the fourth floor which had been partially converted into a single-room accommodation for three students. The building’s ground floor had two shops and a basement, the officer said.

Investigators further said that the documents they have collected and examined so far have revealed that the Gupta family purchased the property on 55 square yards in 1971 for residential purposes. “The building then had a basement, ground and first floor,” said a second officer.

After Hariram’s retirement as an Indian Air Force sergeant, the family constructed two additional floors. It’s unclear in which year the construction was carried out.

Investigators said that their probe has revealed that at least one shop on the ground floor was rented out to a chemist in the late 90s or early 2000s. “However, the tenant allegedly stopped paying the rent and refused to leave. It was only after multiple rounds of negotiations that the tenant agreed to leave 4-5 years ago. Since then, the shops have remained empty. It’s unclear whether the second shop was being used earlier at all,” the second officer said.

Police said that they have written to the civic agencies asking for documents related to the building, including commercial activities and permission letters, if any, sought by the building owners for carrying out fresh construction. “We have learnt through locals that the MCD had pasted a notice on the building around six months ago, declaring it dangerous and asking it to be vacated. For this, we are waiting for a confirmation from the concerned agency,” the officer said.

A third police officer who questioned Hariram and Mahesh said that the family was planning to rent or lease out the ground floor and they were in talks with someone. “During interrogation, they said that the ground floor and basement combined were about 12 feet in height, about eight feet above the ground and four feet below. The plan was to fill the basement with cement to permanently close it and increase the space on the ground floor for commercial use,” he added.

On Sunday, investigators said, after the building collapsed and someone from the neighbourhood in Satya Niketan informed the Gupta family in Gurugram, the couple, their son and his family fled to Bhiwadi, leaving behind their two SUVs. “Not only the immediate family in question, nearly 100 relatives also left their homes and switched off their phones,” the third officer said, adding that the accused, while fleeing, used private cabs and auto-rickshaws.

Although, the first officer said, their probe is limited to the building which collapsed on Sunday, they may collect documents related to the other three accommodations to ascertain if they were run by the same set of business partners and if there were any illegalities involved.

According to a second officer quoted above, the PG operators were charging the 15 students living there at the time around ₹15,000 per bed, including food and WiFi among other facilities. On average, the operators were earning around ₹2.25 lakh per month. “As per the agreement between the building and the PG operators, the latter had been paying a little over ₹1 lakh to the owners,” the officer said.