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Delhi

Moti Nagar factory collapse: Delhi Police arrests co-owner

Seven people were killed as the factory had collapsed following a blast

NEW DELHI: Delhi Police on Friday night arrested the co-owner of a ceiling fan-making unit that had collapsed under the impact of a blast in Moti Nagar, killing seven people on January 3. Sumit Gupta, a partner in the factory, was arrested on Friday under IPC section 304 ( culpable homicide not amounting to murder) police said. The other owner, Ankit Gupta, who was injured in the incident, is still undergoing treatment.

The workers were painting ceiling fans when the blast took place on the second floor of the two-storeyed building after the compressor of a fan exploded. The injured were rushed to Acharya Bhikshu Hospital.

The DFS maintained that a no-objection certificate had not been taken by the owner of the building, and it is suspected that fire safety precautions were not in place as the unit was being run from a residential area.

"A case has been registered under sections 287, 288, 337 and 304 of the Indian Penal Code," DCP West Monika Bhardwaj said.

Atul Garg, chief fire officer (Delhi Fire Services), had earlier said that at least eight people were rescued by the fire department by 10.45 pm on Thursday and two others were known to be trapped inside. Rescue operations were hampered by the absence of light and fire officials had to arrange for a generator to go ahead with the rescue work.

The factory was operating out of a residential neighbourhood of WZ-2 of Basai Darapur in Moti Nagar. It is located along the borders of Sudarshan Park. Police said that the legality of the building was yet to be ascertained.

When the firefighters arrived at the accident site in Moti Nagar on Thursday night, nearly 20-25 minutes after getting a call at 8.47 pm, the local residents were already at work. Some men had already been rescued by locals, who used mobile phone torchlights to trace the trapped. They used bed sheets to bring out the victims safely. The impact of the blast was such that bricks, iron girders and debris affected at least five neighbouring plots and buildings, spread over 1,000 square yards.

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