An 81-year-old retired Indian Air Force sergeant has been arrested in Rajasthan after his five-storey building in South Delhi collapsed, killing seven people. Hariram Bansal, who had allegedly fled to Bhiwadi on Sunday, was tracked down and arrested by police on Monday. The tragedy has sparked widespread outrage over illegal construction and student safety.

Landlord and family detained under homicide charges

Bansal's wife, Urmila Gupta, 75, and their 52-year-old son, Mahesh Gupta, have also been detained. Following an appearance before Judicial Magistrate First Class Bhavya Kharail, the elderly couple was remanded to judicial custody for 14 days, while their son was placed in police custody for two days. Mahesh Gupta reportedly managed the daily administration of the building. Meanwhile, the building was co-owned by Bansal's brother, who is also named in the police investigation for his role in the illegal construction.

The police registered the case at the South Campus police station under the severe provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). The charges include culpable homicide not amounting to murder, negligent conduct during the repair or demolition of buildings, and acts that endanger the personal safety of others.

Greed and illegal floors led to structural failure

The first information report (FIR), registered on Sunday night on the complaint of Assistant Sub-Inspector Praful Toppo, paints a grim picture of negligence driven by greed. It alleges that Bansal and his brother added four illegal floors to an aging structure that originally had only two floors. They did this despite knowing that the structure's plinth could not support the massive extra weight, putting lives at risk to maximise rental profits from students.

The building, operating as a private student hostel named 'Hostel Daze PG', contained about 15 rooms let out to Delhi University students on twin- and triple-sharing bases, with beds costing between 12,000 and 15,000 rupees a month.

Bansal, who retired as a sergeant from the Indian Air Force, is a resident of Gurugram. A local neighbour, SP Sharma, described him as having a decent personality, noting that he owns a hardware shop in the market and has lived in the area for years. While the collapsed building itself was registered under his wife's name, it was actually run by Bansal and Mahesh, who also operates a local hardware and paint shop. The family owns at least two other properties in the same neighbourhood.

Compromised base and unauthorized renovation work

A structural examination revealed that the building, estimated to be around 50 to 55 years old, lacked standard engineering support, such as beams, pillars, or roof columns. Investigators believe the immediate trigger was a hazardous renovation. Bansal had planned to merge two ground-floor shops by tearing down a central partition wall, which severely compromised the structure's stability. Furthermore, water had flooded the basement, and laborers were in the process of digging and attempting to fill it with cement when the building gave way. The authorities were never notified of this construction work before the collapse.

The disaster has triggered a major political and administrative backlash. The Delhi Government swiftly suspended five municipal officials from the South Zone, including the Deputy Commissioner, Superintendent Engineer, Executive Engineer, Assistant Engineer, and a Junior Engineer, for failing to monitor safety standards. Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) Commissioner Sanjeev Khirwar announced that an adjacent building, which was weakened by the impact, would undergo a controlled demolition within days. Khirwar defended the department's oversight, noting that nearly a thousand unauthorized buildings have been demolished and hundreds sealed in the last three months, and that demolition orders for three to four properties in the same area had already been issued in August.

Students launch angry protests over safety and response

The seven victims were mostly students residing in the densely packed Satya Niketan resettlement colony, located opposite Sri Venkateswara College. One of the deceased was identified as Arpit, a B.Com student at Atma Ram Sanatan Dharma College. Another student sustained injuries and is being treated at the AIIMS Trauma Centre. College authorities stepped in to arrange food and alternative lodging for the surviving students after local businesses shut down following the tragedy.

In the streets, angry students affiliated with the NSUI and ABVP staged protests to demand accountability and safer accommodation. Student candidate Jhanvi Kataria urged the government to fund private rental costs until official university hostels are built, pointing out that a similar collapse occurred in the same area three years ago without leading to any preventive measures. Kataria also lamented that heavy security forces were deployed nearby for a prime ministerial speech on Teachers' Day, arguing that redirecting even a fraction of those resources could have significantly speeded up the emergency recovery.

Congress leader Srinivas BV criticized the government's rescue response, alleging that it took official teams three hours to arrive and that student volunteers had to begin rescue work before the authorities showed up. He highlighted that a commercial delivery service's ambulance was the first to arrive, criticizing the delay of official emergency medical vehicles. In total, twelve people were rescued alive from the rubble.

Following a visit to the site, Chief Minister Rekha Gupta announced that the government will implement a new policy making periodic structural audits and safety certificates mandatory for all public-use buildings, including student housing, nursing homes, and schools.