The owner of the five-storey building that collapsed in the congested lanes of east Delhi’s New Seemapuri, killing at least four people, including his daughter, last week was arrested over the weekend, people aware of the matter said on Tuesday. Mohammad Anwar, the owner, went absconding after the collapse last Wednesday.
The people cited above said Anwar, who is in his late 50s, was arrested on Saturday. He was away when the building collapsed. His wife, son and three-year-old grandson were among those injured.
Police initially registered a case under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita's sections 105 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) and 110 (attempt to commit culpable homicide) against unknown persons. A magisterial inquiry is also underway to establish the circumstances leading to the collapse.
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A preliminary probe indicated that demolition work in an adjacent building, involving vibrating machines over the preceding three to four days, may have triggered the collapse.
Anwar was allegedly adding rooms to the top floor of his building to rent them out even as the foundation of the structure (25 square yards) was weak. He had added four upper floors on top of the ground-floor structure over two decades ago.
{{/usCountry}}Anwar was allegedly adding rooms to the top floor of his building to rent them out even as the foundation of the structure (25 square yards) was weak. He had added four upper floors on top of the ground-floor structure over two decades ago.
{{/usCountry}}Anwar's three-year-old grandson escaped with minor injuries. His daughter and son-in-law and their son had shifted to the building a month ago because their house nearly 300 metres away is being reconstructed. Anwar was supervising the construction work of his daughter's house.
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The collapse was the latest in a series of building-related tragedies to hit the Capital this year, bringing into focus enforcement failures surrounding construction and structural safety.
The Municipal Corporation of Delhi said the building was at least 20-25 years old and stood in a jhuggi-jhopadi cluster under the jurisdiction of the Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board.
At least 11 people, including residents and neighbours, were trapped under the debris of the building and eight were injured.
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The death toll could rise as investigators await forensic findings to establish the identities of five body parts recovered from the debris. Police have initiated DNA examinations to determine whether the remains belong to victims already identified or to other people.
A child, aged around three or four, and three women identified as Hazra Bibi, 56, her niece and Anwar's daughter, Nusrat, 33, and Gulafsa, 21, who was four months pregnant, died in the collapse.
A 28-hour-long search and rescue operation followed the building collapse. Two children and a woman were initially confirmed dead. Two more women’s bodies were recovered early Thursday as police revised the toll to four.