Gurugram building collapse: Contractor held, claims owner gave him low quality material

The contractor, Raju, hailing from Madhya Pradesh, was arrested from an empty plot near Badshahpur in which he was hiding.

The 30-year-old contractor of the building that collapsed in Ullahawas village on Thursday morning, killing seven people, was arrested on Monday, the police said.

Police said the contractor (in black jacket) of the building in Ullahawas that collapsed last week was planning to escape to his home town to escape being arrested. (HT Photo)

The contractor, Raju, hailing from Madhya Pradesh, was arrested from an empty plot near Badshahpur in which he was hiding. He was planning to escape to his home town, Satbir Singh, station house officer of Sector 65 police station, said.

Raju told the police that he used the raw material the owner gave him, Singh said. “The contractor told us that the material, such as cement, given to him by the owner were adulterated and of low quality, and he had told the owner about it, but he did not listen to him,” the SHO said. Raju will be presented at a city court on Tuesday.

On Thursday, the police had registered a case against Ram, the owner, and the contractor under sections 304 (punishment for culpable homicide not amounting to murder) and 288 (negligent conduct with respect to pulling down or repairing buildings) of the Indian Penal Code.

Late Friday night, the police arrested Ram from Ullahawas village. Ram had been staying with various acquaintances after the building collapsed on Thursday morning. The police said that he had made arrangements to leave the city before he was nabbed from a street in Sector 65.

On Wednesday, Ram had made the contractor to affix a lintel on top of the third floor of the building to construct a fourth floor, which officials said weakened the structure considerably, leading to the collapse.

Located in a narrow lane of the village, the building stood wall-to-wall with other houses. An adjacent three-storey building suffered external damages because of the collapse and was vacated for safety reasons.

Chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar announced ₹3 lakh compensation for the next of kin. The sub divisional magistrate of Gurugram has been asked to conduct a magisterial enquiry to examine the cause of the incident and to suggest future remedies.