Satya Niketan PG owner, wife, son arrested
Delhi Police arrested on Monday the man alleged to be the owner of the five-storey paying guest building in Satya Niketan that collapsed on Sunday, from Bhiwadi in Rajasthan. Hariram Gupta, who is also listed in the records as Hariram Bansal, had gone untraced since the Hostel Daze building collapsed at about 1.30 pm on Sunday. Later in the day, the police also arrested his wife, Urmila, and their son, Mahesh.
The investigators noted that the Satya Niketan property was registered in Urmila’s name, while the electricity connection was in the names of Hariram and Mahesh. According to the police, Mahesh was in charge of the day-to-day management of the building.
An FIR was filed at the South Campus police station pursuant to sections 105, 290 and 125 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, which cover culpable homicide not amounting to murder, negligent conduct in the repair or construction of buildings and an act endangering life or personal safety. A lookout circular was issued, and his passport details were obtained to prevent him from leaving the country. Search operations were carried out at various addresses in Delhi, Gurugram, and Uttar Pradesh by 10 teams drawn from the district police, the Special Staff, and other units.
Delhi Police teams carried out raids on suspected hideouts and travelled to Sector 23 in Gurugram, where Gupta has been running Hariram Paints and Hardware for approximately 15 years. People in the area said the shop had been locked for two days. The locals referred to him as a long-established hardware dealer who owns several properties in both Sector 23 and Palam Vihar.
The current investigation focuses on questions of ownership, control, and the work underway at the time the building failed. The police are looking into who authorised the repairs and renovations in the basement and on the ground floor, whether the work was legal, and whether the water that collected in the basement following the recent rain weakened the foundations.
They are also investigating who leased the premises for use as a boys’ PG, who received the rent, and how many people were living in the building at the time it collapsed. A key area of inquiry is the difference between the building as it was planned and the building that actually stood on the 55-square-yard plot. According to civic records referred to by the investigators, there was no approved plan for the multi-storey building that eventually occupied the site, that altering the basement of an existing building is considered hazardous, and that extra floors were beyond what the resettlement colony was allowed to have.
The investigating officer (IO) is also reviewing previous statements that claimed relatives of people associated with the neighbouring plots had taken part in running or looking after the property.
The documents retrieved so far, such as the tenancy records, are being cross-referenced with municipal and electricity records. Gupta’s movements after Sunday afternoon, when the shop was closed, and after he left Gurugram, constitute a separate aspect of the case, a police official said.
The collapse is being attributed to alleged negligence in the maintenance and modification of an occupied building. The police State that responsibility will be determined not just for the deaths but also for allowing the students to stay in the building while work was going on below. Gupta, Urmila and Mahesh are still in custody as the investigation continues.
