Delhi Police blames six accused for Satya Niketan collapse deaths
Delhi Police has told the Delhi High Court that six people arrested in connection with the Satya Niketan building collapse failed to take adequate safety precautions during construction, repair and alteration work, creating a situation that endangered lives and led to deaths and serious injuries.
In a status report, the police said the collapse was caused by excessive structural load or weakening of the existing structure.
The building, which housed a boys' paying-guest accommodation near Delhi University's South Campus, collapsed on September 6 while repair work was under way.
Seven people died, including five students, and several others were injured. The status report was filed in a pending PIL by law student Aniket Kumar Gupta, who has sought urgent medical care and rehabilitation for affected students, Rs 1 crore compensation for the families of those who died, and preservation of crucial evidence.
The matter is listed for hearing on Friday before a bench of Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya and Justice Tejas Karia.
In its eight-page report filed on September 21, the police said the accused left the site after the incident instead of taking responsibility and helping in the immediate aftermath.
Their conduct and individual roles are being examined during the investigation. "Prima facie the six arrested accused persons failed to take adequate safety precautions during the construction/ repair/ modification/ alteration work carried out in and around the building, which resulted in a situation endangering human life and ultimately caused deaths and serious injuries to PG students and other persons," the report said.
The police said a preliminary inspection showed that the old building had undergone additional construction in the basement and upper floors without permission from the competent government authorities.
According to the report, the construction or structural alterations increased the load on the existing structure and affected its load-bearing capacity.
It said the property was owned by accused Urmila Gupta and jointly managed by her, her husband Hari Ram Gupta, and their son Mahesh Gupta, both of whom are also accused in the case.
“It has further been found during investigation, that no land-use conversion permission had been obtained by the said persons. The premises were being commercially let out without obtaining the requisite permissions from the competent authorities. The owners had also not engaged, hired or obtained advice from any qualified structural engineer/architect in respect of the basement repair and the construction/structural modification work carried out at the ground-floor shops and other portions of the building,” the report said.
After the incident, police registered a criminal case and arrested six accused, including the Gupta family. They also arrested Shubham Tyagi and Sudhanshu Lovenish Kumar, who were running the boys' PG in the building under the name Hostel Daze, and Sanoj, the contractor engaged for the construction or repair work.
The report said Sanoj had engaged two unqualified labourers and that neither he nor the owners had sought the opinion of any qualified architect or structural expert before starting the work.
It also said Tyagi and Kumar had rented the premises without adequately verifying the building's structural safety and design, and failed to put in place sufficient safety measures for residents or properly warn and guide them about risks arising from the ongoing work.
On September 7, the high court ordered a high-level MCD inquiry into the collapse and said the government could not evade responsibility.
It observed that the incident had raised serious concerns about inadequate housing facilities, including hostels run by Delhi University or the government, the safety and security of students, and the steps taken by the MCD and other authorities to regulate such PG facilities.
Retired IPS officer Kiran Bedi has also moved the high court seeking to be made a party in the matter, saying she wanted to place "critical public domain disclosures" and details of the "nexus" in the operation of PG hostels before the court. The authorities opposed her application, saying she was pre-judging the matter, and sought time to file objections.
Overall, the police report places responsibility on the arrested accused for alleged safety lapses, unauthorised structural changes and failure to protect residents in a collapse that killed seven people.- Ends
