Owner of building that collapsed in Delhi’s Satya Niketan apprehended from Bhiwadi

NEW DELHI: The owner of the building that collapsed in Delhi’s Satya Niketan, Hariram Gupta, has been apprehended from Bhiwadi in Rajasthan following a massive multi-state manhunt with 10 teams.

The Delhi Police had earlier issued a Look Out Circular (LOC) against him after he went untraceable following the collapse. Further examination of Gupta is currently under way.

The death toll in the collapse has risen to seven, with 12 rescued as rescue operations are ongoing. The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) has also suspended multiple officials on Monday, including the Deputy Commissioner South Zone, Executive Engineer-South Zone, Superintendent Engineer-South Zone, Assistant Engineer-Zone, and a Junior Engineer.

#WATCH | Satya Niketan building collapse | Gurugram, Haryana: SK Sharma, neighbour of Hariram Bansal, the alleged owner of the building, says, “Bansal Ji’s shop is in the market—our relationship is simply that we occasionally buy goods from his store; he has a decent personality.… https://t.co/qqA2xnyowz pic.twitter.com/yDDdEVEt0N

— ANI (@ANI) September 7, 2026

The death toll in the collapse has risen to seven, with 12 rescued as rescue operations are ongoing. MCD Commissioner Sanjeev Khirwar said, “Unfortunately, we have lost seven lives. We think the building next to the collapsed building has weakened, and it was strengthened through the night. We will take it up for demolition in a calibrated manner in the next 1-2 days.”

“In August, we had passed demolition orders for 3-4 buildings in the same area. A regular identification is conducted. In the last three months, 960 demolitions were carried out, 407 buildings were sealed, and notices were served to 1500 buildings for sealing and demolition. This is a regular process to take action against unauthorized construction,” he added.

Meanwhile, Rajya Sabha MP Manoj Kumar Jha has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking urgent intervention following the collapse.

“I therefore urge the Union Government to announce an emergency, ring-fenced financial allocation for the construction of public hostels for students of the University of Delhi. This should form part of a time-bound student-housing programme covering both the North and South Campuses and the University’s geographically dispersed colleges. Public land available with the Union Government, the University and its agencies should be identified for hostel construction, with transparent deadlines and publicly accessible progress reports,” he wrote.

The collapse has already triggered administrative action, with Delhi CM Rekha Gupta announcing a new policy mandating structural audits for all buildings used for public purposes, including PGs. (ANI)