Advocate Shubham Tyagi, who had been evading arrest in the Satya Niketan building collapse case, surrendered before the Patiala House Court on Friday, a day after his anticipatory bail plea was rejected. The Delhi Police has sought two days of custodial interrogation of Tyagi and co-accused Sudhanshu Lovenish Kumar, who is associated with the operation of the paying-guest (PG) facility in the building.
Several others were injured in the incident. As the investigation progressed, police arrested building owners Urmila Gupta, Hari Ram Gupta and Mahesh Gupta alias Sanjay, contractor Sanoj and PG operator Sudhanshu Lovenish Kumar. Iron rods were also being cut on the ground floor. With Tyagi’s surrender, police are now seeking his custodial interrogation along with that of Lovenish Kumar as the investigation into the collapse continues.
The building collapsed on September 6, killing seven people, including five students and two labourers. The FIR was registered at South Campus Police Station under Sections 105, 290 and 125(a) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), initially against unidentified persons. Construction work had been going on in the basement for around 10 to 12 days before the collapse, according to Chib’s statement.
Tyagi’s surrender came after Additional Sessions Judge Saurabh Partap Singh Laler on Thursday dismissed his anticipatory bail plea, observing that material gathered during the investigation prima facie contradicted his claim that he was only an investor in the PG business. It also observed that the investigation was still at an early stage. Several issues, including the extent of the partnership between Tyagi and Lovenish Kumar, the flow of rent collected from students, and what the accused knew about or consented to regarding the structural work, remained to be investigated.
