The Delhi Police has arrested the wife and son of owner Hariram Bansal in connection with the paying guest accommodation that collapsed in Delhi’s Satya
Niketan on Sunday afternoon. The police arrested Mahesh, Hariram's son, and Urmila, his wife, according to details emerging in the case. Live updates here. Also Read: What High Court Said On The Satya Niketan Tragedy Investigators are also examining discrepancies between the property ownership records and the electricity connection. The electricity connection for the property was registered in the names of Hariram Bansal and his son Mahesh. However, official property records showed the premises in the name of Hariram’s wife, Urmila. Investigators are now examining the ownership and control of the property, as well as the respective roles of the three family members in its construction, maintenance and use as a paying guest accommodation. The development comes a day after the five-storey building, which housed a boys’ PG near Delhi University’s South Campus, collapsed during ongoing repair work. The death toll has risen to seven, while several others were injured. The rescue operation has now been declared over by the Delhi Police. Hariram Bansal was earlier on the run following the collapse. Delhi Police formed ten teams to trace him and issued a lookout circular before he was apprehended in Rajasthan’s Bhiwadi on Monday noon. Police said further examination of Bansal was under way. A case was registered against Bansal and others under Sections 105, 290 and 125 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), relating to culpable homicide not amounting to murder, negligent conduct in pulling down, repairing or constructing buildings, and acts endangering life or personal safety. The building, known as Hostel Daze, was reportedly undergoing renovation when it collapsed. Police and civic officials are examining whether the repair work, the structural condition of the decades-old building and possible unauthorised construction contributed to the collapse. The exact cause is yet to be established. The tragedy has also put the spotlight on the regulation of PG accommodations in Satya Niketan, a densely populated student hub where several residential properties have been converted into hostels and paying guest facilities. The Municipal Corporation of Delhi has ordered action against unauthorised structures and suspended five officials in connection with the broader building-safety concerns following the collapse.
