Satya Niketan disaster: Delhi court sends owner’s son, PG operator, contractor to 2-day police custody

NEW DELHI, (IANS): A Delhi court on Wednesday sent the son of the building owner, the PG operator, and the labour contractor arrested in connection with the Satya Niketan building collapse to two days of police custody.

Judicial Magistrate Kautuk Bharadwaj passed the order after the Delhi Police sought three days’ custody of the three accused -- Mahesh Gupta, PG operator Sudhanshu and contractor Sanoj.

Gupta was produced before the Patiala House Court after completion of his two-day police custody, while Sudhanshu and Sanoj were produced before the court following their arrest on Tuesday.

The five-storey building, known as ‘Hostel Daze’, was being operated as a boys’ paying guest accommodation and several students were staying there when it collapsed at around 1.30 p.m. on Sunday, leaving seven people dead.

The police had earlier arrested building owner Urmila, 75, her 81-year-old retired husband Hariram and their 52-year-old son Mahesh Gupta in connection with the case.

Urmila and Hariram were sent to 14 days of judicial custody on Tuesday, while Gupta was sent to two days of police custody.

During questioning, Gupta told the police that he used to manage the maintenance of the building on behalf of his parents. The family had leased the building to the PG operators ‘Hostel Daze’ in August 2025.

The police said the building was registered in Urmila’s name and was being managed and run by her husband and son. The electricity connection for two floors of the building was also in Hariram’s name.

Meanwhile, labour contractor Sanoj, who was overseeing repairs in the basement of the building, was arrested by Delhi Police from Uttar Pradesh's Kasganj.

According to the police, initial questioning of Sanoj revealed that repair work was underway in the basement as waste had been accumulating there during the rainy season for the past eight to 10 days.

The police also said that the ground floor was being repaired for an extension for commercial purposes.

The police had earlier launched a hunt for the PG operator and labour contractor, saying their roles would be examined during the investigation and appropriate action would be taken.

The collapse has also prompted action by the civic authorities. Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta on Tuesday directed the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) to demolish a dilapidated building adjoining the accident site in the interest of public safety. The action came after five civic officials responsible for checking illegal construction in the area, located close to Delhi University’s South Campus in Dhaula Kuan, were suspended. The authorities are also removing the belongings of students from the collapsed building in a systematic manner with the help of Delhi Fire Service personnel.