Delhi building collapse: Police seek 3-day custody of owner’s son, PG operator, building contractor

Delhi Police on Wednesday sought three-day custody of the building owner’s son, PG operator and a contractor who were arrested after the five-storey structure collapsed in Satya Niketan, leaving seven people dead.

The submissions were made before Judicial Magistrate Kautuk Bharadwaj seeking three days’ police custody of the building owner’s son Mahesh Gupta, PG operator Sudhanshu and contractor Sanoj.

The court is likely to pass an order shortly.

Gupta was produced before the court after the completion of his two-day police custody. The two others were produced after being arrested on Tuesday.

The proceedings were held in-camera after Sudhanshu’s counsel claimed that “a media trial” was prejudicing the ongoing probe.

The magistrate then directed media personnel to step outside the court.

Sudhanshu, one of the two business partners running the ‘Hostel Daze’ PG, was arrested during the probe.

According to police, building owner Mahesh had leased the property to Sudhanshu and his business partner Shubham Tyagi in August 2025. The duo subsequently started operating the premises as a paying guest accommodation under the name ‘Hostel Daze’.

Tyagi is currently absconding.

Labour contractor Sanoj was arrested after being brought from Kasganj in Uttar Pradesh to Delhi.

On Monday, a court had sent building owner Hariram, an 81-year-old retired Indian Air Force sergeant, and his 75-year-old wife Urmila to 14 days’ judicial custody, while their 52-year-old son Mahesh was remanded in police custody for two days.

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The collapse occurred around 1 pm on Sunday. The structure, comprising a ground floor and four upper floors, housed several students and other residents.

According to the FIR, a local enquiry found that the building was several years old and that additional floors had been constructed allegedly for rental income. Investigators are probing whether the additional construction had placed pressure on the existing structure.