Contractor held for Satya Niketan building collapse that killed two

New Delhi: A 46-year-old contractor was arrested in connection with the death of two persons following a building collapse at Satya Niketan in south Delhi, police said on Friday.

He has been identified as Mohammad Raees, a resident of Araria district in Bihar, they said.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (southwest) Manoj C said, "On Friday, Raees was arrested by southwest district police. He was the contractor in charge of modifying building number 173, Satya Niketan, which collapsed on Monday afternoon." Further investigation in the matter is on, police said.

Two labourers had died and three others were rescued after a three-storey building undergoing renovation collapsed in the Satya Niketan area around 1.25 pm on Monday. The deceased had been identified as Bilal and Naseem. Four people — Md Firdaus, Aslam, Sarfaraz and Musahid were injured in the incident.

While both the South MCD and the Delhi Police are probing the incident, civic body officials had said at the time of the collapse that the building had been declared unsafe a month before. They added that the Delhi Police had also been asked to stop the renovation work more than a week before the building collapsed, despite which the work was allowed to go on.

The police have so far declined to comment on why they did not act to stop the renovation work when asked by the civic body.

Roof collapses, owner held: Meanwhile, in a separate incident, the police have arrested the owner of a building in Delhi's Vijay Nagar, where part of the roof partially collapsed - injuring two tenants, one of whom is a Delhi University student.

An FIR was registered against Rajendra Chadda, the owner of the house, and he has been arrested, the official said.

The room in the two-storey building was rented by Indraprastha College For Women's (IPCW) student Sukanya (22). Her sister and a friend were visiting her when the incident occurred on the night of April 25.

Sukanya's sister, a film student, has suffered a fracture in her leg and was also required stitches. Sukanya herself has suffered minor injuries on her back.