Despite Complaints Of Cracks, Owner Continued Construction

Rescuers on Tuesday pulled out five bodies, including two minors, from the wreckage of a building that collapsed in Burari, north Delhi, the previous day, as police filed a first information report (FIR) against the owner of the building, who they said reportedly ignored complaints about the structural integrity of the four-storey flat.

- Sanjeev K Jha

NEW DELHI:

The five victims were identified as Radhika, 7, Sadhana, 17, Anil Gupta, 42, Mohammad Sarfaraz, 22, and Mohammad Qadir, 40, police said on Tuesday.

The FIR, which HT has seen, was filed under sections 105 (culpable homicide amounting to murder), 110 (attempt to commit culpable homicide) and 305 (multiple people commit a crime with a common intention) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) against Yogender Bhati, a builder who lives in the same neighbourhood and is at large.

Deputy commissioner of police (north) Raja Banthia said multiple teams have been formed to nab Bhati.

The complainant, Lalta Prasad, was working as a guard in the building for the past eight months and alleged that Bhati ignored a raft of complaints about cracks on the walls and pillars, as well as a purported "tilt" in the building.