Delhi building collapse: One arrested

Police here Sunday arrested a man for causing the death of 10 people in a building collapse as he was illegally getting construction done on an adjacent plot.

Police said Mohammad Javed, 45, was arrested on charges of causing death by negligence for getting construction done on a plot adjacent to the four-storey building, but without taking permission from the North Delhi Municipal Corporation.

"Javed started construction on his plot two months ago but he did not bother to take permission from the authorities concerned," said a police official.

He resides in a nearby street in north Delhi's Tulsi Nagar of Inderlok area where the building collapsed 9 a.m. Saturday.

"The collapse was triggered by the ongoing construction on Javed's plot, which apparently weakened its foundation because of 15-feet-deep digging," said the official.

North Delhi Municipal Corporation Mayor Yogender Chandolia Saturday told IANS the poor quality material used to build the house weakened its base and it collapsed due to ongoing construction on an adjacent plot.

Ten people were killed and two others were injured in the incident.

Mohammad Naim, 39, and Abdul Rashid, 38, were hurt while Rubina, 30, Asif, 10, Rehan, 7, Aadiba, 14, Sahana, 28, Abdul Aadil, 7, Saba, 5, Mohammad Ezaz, 24, Imtiyaz Ali, 24, and Mohammad Uzale, 22, died.

Hours after the incident, North Delhi Municipal Corporation Commissioner Praveen Gupta suspended the area's assistant and junior engineers.

An inquiry, to be conducted by an additional commissioner (engineering), was ordered and directed to submit its report in seven days.