Delhi suspends two engineers and orders a police case against the contractor after an unpermitted building kills two

Police put the collapse at about 9:50 a.m., in Gali Sitara by the Chawri Bazar Metro station. In separate orders, the deputy commissioner of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi's Old Delhi Zone suspended two building department officials, assistant engineer Mohd Naeem and his junior engineer colleague Aman Dalal, pending inquiry. The orders cite "severe dereliction of duty" on the face of it, PTI reported. Chief Minister Rekha Gupta ordered an inquiry and a First Information Report against the contractor. Police said they were registering a case against the owners as well. An FIR opens a criminal investigation. It records an allegation and does not establish guilt.

The site never received building plan approval, the municipality found, according to Asianet Newsable. A senior police officer told the Hindustan Times, as relayed by Gujarat Samachar, that police had warned the municipality about unauthorized construction at the address on June 15 after complaints, and that officials knew of no action taken. Mayor Pravesh Wahi said a team under the municipal commissioner would report within three days.

Accounts of the failure differ. A municipal official told PTI that work had stopped about 15 days earlier, that crews were removing the supports under the roof when it fell, and called the material "non-engineered," saying it "had not set properly." Police said a third-floor slab was being cast. A rescued worker told IANS that one or two timber props under an already-poured section started creaking just before the collapse. Cracks opened in neighboring buildings, which were evacuated.

Early casualty counts varied, and the cause has not been established. In September, a five-storey paying-guest building in Delhi's Satya Niketan collapsed and killed seven; police later filed a chargesheet against six people, including the owners and the contractor, Oneindia reported.