Two days after a building collapsed in Gurugram killing seven people, police confirmed that they have arrested the owner of the structure, The Indian Express reported.
At least seven people died after a four-storey under-construction building collapsed in a village in Gurugram early on Thursday, 24 January.
Some more people are feared trapped in the rubble of the building in Ullawas village near sector 65 of Gurugram, PTI reported, citing officials.
The Gurugram Fire Department control room received a call at 5:15 am from a local about the building collapse in Ullawas village.
Sources have told The Quint that the fourth floor of the building was incomplete. They said that some construction work had been carried out at the fourth floor on Wednesday, 23 January, following which the building collapsed. The ceiling of the fourth floor had fallen on Wednesday.
The police said a magistrate-level enquiry has been initiated into the incident.
Three of the deceased, identified as Kuldeep (32), Vishal (17), Altaf (24), were residents of Uttar Pradesh's Ambedkar Nagar, while one Anand (22) was a native of Bihar's Samastipur, PTI reported, citing Gurugram Police spokesperson Subhash Bokan.
According to the Gurugram Police, four of the deceased were daily labourers while two others were security guards. One of the dead was unemployed.
Haryana Chief Minister ML Khattar also announced that a financial aid of Rs 3 lakh will be provided for the kin of those who died in the incident.
Owner Arrested, Manhunt Launched to Nab Contractor
A Gurugram Police official reportedly said that the building on a 125 square yard plot is owned by Daya Ram, a resident of the same village. The police arrested him late on 25 January, according to a report in The Indian Express. The owner, who was in hiding since the building collapse, was arrested from a house in Sector 65, Gurugram, the police said. He was produced in court on 26 January.
Earlier on 24 January, Gurugram Deputy Commissioner Vinay Pratap Singh told ANI that the rescue operations were being carried out by NDRF and SDRF teams. “The cause of the building collapse can be ascertained only after investigation,” he said.
Sanjeev Singla, SDM Gurugram, had told ANI the building was unstable and was being built without any technical expertise.
According to the police, all the victims were asleep when the building collapsed around 5 am on Thursday, 24 January.
According to reports, no one lived in the building when it collapsed. However, there were workers when the incident took place.
(Photo: PTI)
(With inputs from The Indian Express, PTI and IANS.)
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