Police invoke culpable homicide charges in Harsh Vihar building collapse case that killed 2 | India News

The Delhi Police on Tuesday added charges of culpable homicide not amounting to murder to the first information report (FIR) in the collapse of a building where construction work was going on in northeast Delhi’s Harsh Vihar that killed two people.

Slabs of an under-construction building collapsed on Sunday late night in Harsh Vihar. (Vipin Kumar/ HT Photo)The development comes after claims that there was a long gap between the incident and the arrival of the first emergency vehicle, which may have delayed the rescue operation. The FIR also contains allegations that the building owner ignored a request to add support before starting construction work in the building.

Deputy commissioner of police (northeast) Rahool Alwal told HT that section 105 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) had been added to the FIR, which was registered on Monday under sections 106(1) (causing death due to negligence), 290 (negligent conduct regarding the pulling down, repairing, or construction of buildings that endangers human life) and 3(5) (common intention).

On Sunday evening, the collapse occurred at Milan Garden on Sewa Dham Road in Harsh Vihar, an unauthorised colony. Two men, feared trapped under the debris, were pulled out during an overnight rescue operation on Monday morning. They were taken to GTB Hospital, where doctors declared them dead on arrival.

The deceased were identified as Chanderpal, 60, and his son Vijay Kumar, 33, residents of Gali No. 14 in Harsh Vihar. They had taken a contract for shuttering work at the building.

Police said the main contractor, who had taken up the construction work, identified as Arjun is on the run. The building owner, Manoj Kumar, who allegedly locked the gate and fled after the collapse, was arrested on Monday. Both are named in the FIR.

HT on Monday reported that the first call to police and fire department was made more than an hour after the incident occurred, according to police officials, eyewitnesses, and victims’ families, a gap that likely delayed rescue operations and allowed the building owner to flee.

According to the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), the rear portion of the first-floor structure appears to have collapsed while the owner was replacing the existing T-iron and stone-slab roofing with a reinforced cement concrete (RCC) slab. The debris reportedly fell onto the ground-floor roof, which collapsed.

According to the FIR, seen by HT, registered based on a complaint by the victim’s other son, Yash, the victims had asked the building owner to install support on the existing lintel — a structural beam—because it was weak but he did not heed the request.

“The lintel on the ground floor was weak and work was underway on the first floor… We had asked both Manoj and Arjun to install a support pillar below the existing lintel but they did not listen to us and asked us to continue the work,” Yash was quoted in the FIR.

There appeared to be different versions of when the authorities were alerted to the incident.

A senior police officer part of the team investigating the case, who asked to remain anonymous, said that preliminary inquiry had established that the collapse occurred around 5.45pm and that the PCR call was made at 6:46pm, “at least an hour after” the incident.

Owner Kumar was present at the time, the officer said, adding that Kumar locked the gate and fled, fearing assault by locals and legal action. “At 6.46pm, the PCR call was made by the building owner’s son, Khushwinder Kumar. The owner was called to open the gate,” the officer said, describing the owner’s actions as gross negligence.

The same time was cited in press releases issued by the Delhi Police and Delhi Fire Services (DFS) on Sunday night, as well as the police general diary entry accessed by HT.

According to DFS records, the incident was reported at 6.46pm. Police, fire personnel, Civil Defence volunteers and a National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) team joined the DFS’ operation, with two ambulances and a crane deployed in addition to six fire tenders.

Hemani Bhandari is a Special Correspondent with Hindustan Times in New Delhi, where she reports on crime, policing, governance and social issues. With over a decade of experience in journalism, she specialises in combining on-ground reporting with evidence-based storytelling to examine the human impact of public policy, law enforcement and urban governance. Over the years, she has reported extensively on major developments in the capital, including crime investigations, civic challenges, protests, and issues affecting vulnerable communities. As a Special Correspondent, she focuses on producing exclusive investigations, enterprise stories and long-form features that go beyond daily news cycles. She has a keen interest in using public records, official data and field reporting to uncover systemic issues and present complex subjects in an accessible manner. A graduate of the Asian College of Journalism, Hemani believes in rigorous, ethical and evidence-based reporting. She is passionate about investigative journalism and continuously seeks to expand her skills in data journalism, open-source investigations and digital reporting techniques.Read More