Sawan Park building collapse: No arrest, police raids in Delhi-NCR

New Delhi: Two days after the death of seven persons in Sawan Park area of North West Delhi on Thursday, police claimed that they are conducting raids in Delhi-NCR areas to nab the three culprits who are on the run since the time of the incident. Police claimed that they also took the statement of the injured victims who claimed that they had told the accused landlord to repair the building but he did not pay any heed.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (North-West) Aslam Khan claimed that they have not arrested any person in this regard. They have registered a case under IPC Section 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) against the owner Dharmender, his business partner Sachin and Sachin's father Roshan Lal, who had rented out the building in Ashok Vihar.

"Raids are going on in suspected hideouts of the accused in Noida, Ghaziabad and in some parts of Delhi," said an investigator. The police also recorded the statement of the victims injured in the incident who claimed that they have told Dharmendra about the poor condition of the building several times," added the investigator.

On the other hand, the North Delhi Municipal Corporation discontinued the contract of an engineer while suspended two others in connection with the collapse of a four-storey "weak" building in Ashok Vihar in which seven people perished. North Delhi MCD has ordered house-to-house resurvey for identifying dangerous buildings to Executive Engineers (Maintenance). The civic body, even, admitted that the building was about 20-25 years old and its structure was 'weak' and in a "deteriorated condition" while asserting that no new construction activity or construction material was found at the site.

In addition, the Delhi government has also ordered a magisterial inquiry into the incident. The building collapsed Wednesday, three weeks after the 20-25-year-old structure was 'inspected' by a municipal team following complaints, according to police.