The owner of the building in Satya Niketan that collapsed, killing seven people, was apprehended from Rajasthan’s Bhiwadi area on Monday, Delhi Police said.
The development comes after a massive search operation involving 10 teams was launched to trace him.
An officer said, "Hariram Gupta has been apprehended from Bhiwadi. Further examination is ongoing in connection with the case."
According to a police source, soon after the building collapsed on Sunday, Gupta received a call from a person he knew, informing him about the incident. Gupta was in Gurugram at the time of the collapse. He then immediately switched off his mobile phone and went into hiding, leaving the city, the source said.
After procuring the owner's details, police teams tried to contact him, but he remained unreachable. Following this, a look out circular (LOC) was issued to trace his whereabouts and prevent him from leaving the country.
The police also shared the accused's details with several adjoining states and airports as part of efforts to locate him and ensure that he did not leave the country, a senior police officer said.
The Delhi Police formed 10 teams to trace Gupta. The teams included personnel from the southwest district, Special Staff and other units of the Delhi Police and launched a massive search operation to locate him.
The teams were sent to Rajasthan, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and several other adjoining districts of Haryana, with the searches being coordinated and supervised by officers of the additional deputy commissioner of police rank, police said.
"The lookout notice and the extensive search operation were part of the investigation into the circumstances leading to the collapse of the decades-old building, which housed a boys' paying guest accommodation in the Satya Niketan," a senior police officer said.
Meanwhile, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) suspended South zone deputy commissioner Rakesh Kumar and four engineers pending disciplinary proceedings.
According to the suspension orders accessed by PTI, the other officials suspended are Superintending Engineer Ranvir Singh, Executive Engineer (Building) Lalit Kumar Goel, Assistant Engineer (Building) Sunil Chauhan and Junior Engineer (Building) Ashish Kumar, all from the South Zone.
The civic body also issued an order, asking the owner of a building adjacent to the collapsed building to demolish the structure within three days after it was found to be in a "ruinous and dangerous condition".
The incident has prompted scrutiny of the condition of buildings in the area, the role of civic authorities and the circumstances under which repair work was being carried out at the collapsed structure.
The building collapsed at around 1.30 pm on Sunday while repair work was underway, trapping several people under the debris. Seven people have died so far in the incident, while many others were rescued from the debris.
Police had earlier registered a case against Gupta and others at the South Campus police station under charges including culpable homicide, negligence in the upkeep of a structure and endangering the safety of others.
The investigation is examining the circumstances in which the repair work was being carried out and the condition of the structure before the collapse.
Police said further examination of Gupta and other aspects of the case are underway.
(With inputs from PTI)
