New Delhi, Jun 10 (PTI): The two additional floors allegedly being constructed illegally on a building in Saidulajab that collapsed last month in south Delhi, killing six people, were part of a contract worth around Rs 1.8 crore, investigators have found, officials said on Wednesday.
Delhi Police has already arrested the building owner, Karamveer, and two contractors, Manish Khatri and Avinesh Gupta, in connection with the May 30 collapse in south Delhi’s Saidulajab area.
According to police sources, Khatri and Gupta were arrested near their lawyer’s office in Vasant Kunj on Tuesday following a tip-off. Investigators are now questioning the three accused to ascertain how the alleged illegal construction was carried out and whether others were involved.
During the probe, police found that around three months ago, Khatri and Gupta were awarded a contract worth approximately Rs 1.8 crore to construct two additional floors on the building.
Sources said Khatri’s construction firm has been associated with several projects in Saidulajab, Paryavaran Complex and adjoining localities for nearly eight years.
Police suspect that he is also related to Karamveer and had earlier worked on at least two other buildings owned by him.
Preliminary findings suggest that the building, constructed around eight years ago, was not structurally designed to bear the load of additional floors.
Investigators believe that the basement and foundation had limited load-bearing capacity, but construction of extra floors was undertaken despite these constraints.
One of the additional floors was almost complete, while work on another was underway when the structure collapsed, sources said.
Police have also learnt that construction activity had been temporarily halted a few days before the incident following a dispute over payments.
The building originally had four floors.
Investigators are also examining another possible factor behind the tragedy. A water tank was reportedly being installed in the basement and excavation work for it had been carried out shortly before the collapse.
Officials suspect that the digging may have further weakened the already vulnerable structure. Engineers assisting the investigation are examining whether the combined impact of the additional constructions and basement excavation compromised the building’s stability.
Police said documents related to the construction work, financial transactions, building plans and technical reports are being scrutinised.
Preliminary findings indicate that no approval had been obtained for the construction of the two upper floors and the work was allegedly being carried out without sanctioned plans.
Meanwhile, following a communication from Delhi Police, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi has identified around 100 buildings in the area and issued notices asking occupants to vacate structures found to be potentially unsafe, sources said. PTI SSJ ARI
(This story is published as part of the auto-generated syndicate wire feed. No editing has been done in the headline or the body by ABP Live.)
