New Delhi: Removal of a wall obstructuring the space for a shop on the ground floor may have led to the collapse of the five-storey building in Satya Niketan, the contractor hired to carry out construction work told police.
The Delhi Police Wednesday arrested Hostel Daze operator Sudhanshu Lovneesh and labour contractor Sanoj Kumar in connection with the collapse of a five-storey building in Satya Niketan that has claimed seven lives.
According to the police, Kumar, a resident of Moti Bagh, was given the contract of repair and construction by Mahesh Gupta, son of building owner Hariram Gupta.
“He (Sanoj) disclosed that he was engaged in renovation work in the building by Mahesh Gupta around 10 days back. The work was to level the basement with the ground floor. Around three trucks of malba (debris) were filled in the basement,” a senior Delhi Police officer aware of the matter told ThePrint.
During interrogation, the labour contractor told the police that Mahesh was paying him Rs 2,800 per day. “There was one wall obstructing the space for a shop on the ground floor. On the day of the incident, they removed the said wall to create space. The building could not take the load and ultimately collapsed,” said the officer.
Sanoj, 35, is a resident of JJ Colony Nanakpura, Moti Bagh.
Earlier in the day, the police arrested PG operator Sudhanshu Lovneesh from Bhajanpura. “During interrogation, he (Sudhanshu) said that he and his business partner Shubham Tyagi got the said property at a lesser rate because of its dilapidated condition and he remained ignorant towards ongoing construction work despite knowing that it could affect the building as a whole,” the officer said.
Sudhanshu told the police that he has been operating seven PGs in the vicinity since 2022. “He had leased four floors of the said building in August 2025, in lieu of Rs 1.05 lakh per month,” the officer added.
Earlier, the police had arrested building owner Hariram Gupta, wife Urmila Gupta and son Mahesh Gupta in connection with the incident.
The police produced Mahesh, Sanoj and Sudhanshu before a local court and were granted two days’ police custody.
The accused have been booked under BNS sections 105 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder), 290 (negligent construction activity) and 125(a) (act endangering life or personal safety).
(Edited by Amrtansh Arora)
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