Delhi Police on Sunday arrested both the owner and coordinator of the IAS coaching centre where three students lost their lives due to the basement flooding in Rajendra Nagar.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Central, M Harshavardhan, stated that a case has been filed against the coaching institute, the building's management, and those accountable for maintaining the drain at the site. Delhi Police further said that the arrested coaching centre owner and coordinator have been identified as Abhishek Gupta and Deshpal Singh.
According to the Delhi Fire Department (DFS), a call about waterlogging was received from the Rao IAS Study Centre at about 7 pm.
“Case registered under sections 105, 106 (1), 115 (2), 290 and 35 of BNS. This case is against the coaching institute and the management of the building and those who were responsible for the maintenance of the drain of that place...so far we have detained the owner and coordinator of that coaching centre...further investigation underway,” DCP Harshavardhan told ANI.
The police identified the victims of Delhi's Old Rajender Nagar coaching centre Rao IAS Study Centre incident as Shreya Yadav, a native of Ambedkar Nagar district of Uttar Pradesh, Tanya Soni from Telangana; and Nivin Dalwin, a resident of Kerala's Ernakulam.
CPI(M) Rajya Sabha MP V Sivadasan said, “ We have visited the spot of incident and spoke to the family members of the victim. This shouldn't have happened...there is no proper drainage system in Delhi...coaching centre owners conduct classes and set up library in the basement without proper permission from the govt...we demand a safety audit of all the coaching centres and strict rules against them. The govt is promoting these coaching centres as the officials and authorities are collecting huge amount of money from coaching centre owners.”
“Rescue operations were launched, along with Delhi Police and Delhi Fire Service, NDRF was also involved. By the end of the search and rescue op...3 bodies were recovered from the basement. All 3 of them have been identified and the family members have been informed.”
Shreya Yadav who hails from UP's Ambedkar Nagar lost her life in the incident. Saurabh Shukla, Sub-District Magistrate, Ambedkar Nagar said, “ We got the information that a student from Ambedkar Nagar, died from the incident that happened at night. So, as per the instruction of the district administration, we reached here...she was a very promising student, and she went to Delhi for IAS coaching...we have sought the report from the authorities.”
The police have dispatched the bodies to Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital (RML) for autopsy. Earlier, Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police Sachin Sharma assured the protesting students that a comprehensive investigation would be conducted, and appropriate actions would be taken.
Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police Sachin Sharma while addressing protesting students, said, "Three people have died. Why will we hide anything? We assure you that we will do whatever is legally possible. The investigation is on."
The students were demonstrating against the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) and the management of the IAS coaching institute, demanding action over the deaths of three students.
Notably, the Old Rajender Nagar incident comes days after a UPSC aspirant was electrocuted on a waterlogged Delhi street
