A policeman escorting an accused at Patiala House Courts in New Delhi on Wednesday.
| Photo Credit: PTI
The Delhi police on Wednesday arrested Sudhanshu Lovneesh, a 31-year-old operator of the paying guest (PG) facility housed in the five-storey building that collapsed in south-west Delhi’s Satya Niketan killing at least seven persons and injuring several others.The police also formally arrested labour contractor Sanoj Kumar, who had been apprehended in Uttar Pradesh’s Kasganj a day earlier. He was produced before a Delhi court along with Mr. Lovneesh. The court remanded them in two days’ police custody. The proceedings were held in camera after Mr. Lovneesh’s counsel claimed that “a media trial” was prejudicing the ongoing probe, a police officer said.Deputy Commissioner of Police (South West) Amit Goel said the investigation found that building manager Mahesh Gupta engaged Mr. Kumar, 35, a resident of Moti Bagh, for renovation work 10 days before the collapse.“The work was to level the basement with the ground floor. Around three truckloads of debris were filled into the basement. He was being paid ₹2,800 a day by Mr. Mahesh for the work. There was a wall obstructing the space meant for a shop on the ground floor. On the day of the incident, they removed the wall to create space. The building could not bear the load and ultimately collapsed,” the DCP added.The DCP said the investigation also revealed that Mr. Lovneesh remained indifferent to the construction work despite knowing that it could affect the building as a whole.“During questioning, he disclosed that he and his friend Shubham Tyagi had been operating PG accommodations in the Satya Niketan area since 2022 under the name ‘Hostel Daze’. He currently runs seven PGs in the vicinity. The duo took four floors of the building on lease in August 2025 for ₹1.05 lakh a month. They rented the building at a lower rate because of its dilapidated condition,” Mr. Goel said. The police are yet to trace the whereabouts of Mr. Tyagi.‘Non-functional for years’Meanwhile, students in the area said the building had been non-functional for a couple of years before it was leased to Mr. Lovneesh and Mr. Tyagi last year, after which they managed the day-to-day PG operations.According to police, the property was registered in Urmila Gupta’s name, while her husband, Hariram Gupta, and their son, Mr. Mahesh Gupta, were involved in its management. The son managed the building’s maintenance on behalf of his parents.On Sunday, the day of the incident, the family learnt about the collapse from locals and fled to Bhiwadi, Rajasthan, from where police arrested them on Monday. Published - September 10, 2026 12:54 am IST
