New Delhi: Close to 48 hours since a building in Mehrauli’s Said-ul-Ajaib area collapsed, killing at least six and injuring eight others, the Delhi Police Monday arrested its owner, and are conducting multiple raids in the Capital to track down two builders and a contractor.
According to a senior police official aware of the matter, the owner of the property has been identified as one Karamvir (71), a resident of Vasant Kunj.
Karamvir, it is learnt, owns multiple properties across the area, and in south Delhi. “Preliminary investigation has revealed that the owner makes a living by renting out multiple properties as PGs, office spaces, and coaching centres,” the official said.
Adding, “…we are also looking for two builders who were associated with the construction of the building—partners Gupta and Khatri; and the contractor.”
According to police sources, the four have been absconding since Saturday evening and multiple teams have been deployed to nab them.
The Print accessed court orders and MCD notices, which indicated that there were several lapses and that multiple agencies flagged the 25-year-old building as “illegal construction” on more than one occasion.
Delhi Police sources said the building housed five paying guest accommodations, five rentals given to families and a cafe and the new construction was meant to be leased out as office spaces.
Located at Said-ul-Ajaib, where buildings share walls and lanes have canopies of electric wires, the building stood adjacent to a tin-shed canteen, on which it collapsed Saturday.
“The building initially had ground plus three floors like all other buildings in the neighbourhood. Following this since 2015 MCD and the Delhi Police have flagged issues with the building and its expansion,” said the official quoted earlier.
In 2015 the Deputy Commissioner of South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) wrote to the station house officer (SHO), Mehrauli, that there was “unauthorised construction/work” at the instance of the “owner/builder/occupier of the property without any permission from Commissioner, SDMC”. The police were directed to file an FIR under sections 466A (unlawful construction) of the Delhi Municipal Corporation Act along with section 32 (common intention) and 120 B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
Subsequently on 26 February 2021, the SDMC noted that the owner/builder of the said property had built the second and third floor illegally.
“The unauthorised construction of second floor and third floor in property referred in the orders dated 22.12.2020, as already stands booked in the year 2015, is not entitled to relief under the National Capital Territory of Delhi Laws (Special Provision) Act. The documents submitted by the owner of the said property do not establish the existence of the second floor and third floor prior to 01.06.2014,” read the document, accessed by ThePrint.
While legal battles had been ongoing, the latest was the High Court petition on 4 April, wherein the petitioner had sought directions to the MCD to demolish the building for structural issues and ongoing “illegal” construction. Sakir Ahmed, the petitioner in the matter, told The Print that he had moved the High Court after he noticed the building had tilted on 21 March, when they were celebrating Eid. The MCD’s legal counsel had then submitted that there was “no illegal construction” ongoing in the said property.
Prior to that, on 21 March, on the complaint of a beat constable Delhi Police flagged the property to MCD for being “unsafe”, a senior Delhi Police official told The Print.
Meanwhile, the Delhi Police has registered an FIR against unknown persons under section 105 (culpable homicide), 290 (negligent conduct),125 (2) (rash or negligence endangering human life) of the BNS, DCP (south) Anant Mittal said.
Following the incident the MCD suspended two officials: Aman Jain, junior engineer (building department); and Sudesh Singh Chouhan Assistant engineer (building department).
“Hereby placed under suspension with immediate effect, on the ground of de-reliction of duties and slackness on his part, in the matter of collapse of Property-identified with Kh. No. 262, Gali no. 5, Western Marg, Said-ul- Azaib, New Delhi on 30.05.2026,” read the document accessed by The Print.
This is an updated version of the report
(Edited by Amrtansh Arora)
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Delhi is such a lost cause when it comes to old buildings. There are thousands of not tens of thousands of such buildings some even sharing the same wall and built upto 4 floors. What will suspension of officials do ? Prospective bright young people were killed. Is suspension the answer ?