NEW DELHI: Delhi Police has submitted a chargesheet running into more than 600 pages against six accused in the Satya Niketan building collapse case.
The accused include the building owners and two PG operators. The incident claimed seven lives, five students and two labourers.
A case was lodged at the South Campus police station in connection with the incident. The chargesheet, filed before a court, names building owner Hariram Gupta, his wife Urmila Gupta, their son Mahesh Gupta, labour contractor Sanoj Kumar and PG operators Sudhanshu Lavnish Kumar and Shubham Tyagi as accused.
Police have invoked sections 105 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder), 125(a) (rash or negligent act endangering life), 3(5) (common intention), 290 (negligent conduct during repair or construction of a building), 115(2) (voluntarily causing hurt), 324(2) and 324(4) (mischief causing damage to property) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). A total of 87 witnesses have been examined in connection with the case.
According to the investigation, Hariram Gupta was the caretaker and a direct beneficiary of the building, while his wife Urmila Gupta is the registered owner. Police found that payments related to the property were transferred to her bank account.
Their son Mahesh Gupta allegedly managed the affairs of the building and collected cash payments, while contractor Sanoj Kumar was the mason who was carrying out the work and allegedly demolished a wall at the property.
The remaining two accused, Sudhanshu Lavnish Kumar and Shubham Tyagi, were operating PG accommodations in the building, police said.
The building in the Satya Niketan area, near the University of Delhi’s South Campus, collapsed on September 6 while repair work and refilling of the basement were underway.