Students detained for protesting

A few students were detained after they staged a protest in Old Rajinder Nagar on Sunday, demanding action against those responsible for the deaths of three civil services aspirants at a coaching centre in the area, and compensation for their families.

Raising slogans “we want justice”, the protestors blocked the road next to the Karol Bagh Metro Station, causing huge traffic snarls in the area and prompting police intervention.

A scuffle erupted between the students and police, after which a few protestors were detained and taken away in a bus. Following this, many demonstrators dispersed from the area and police resumed the traffic movement there.

The police also used body camera and drones to monitor protestors’ activities during the demonstration.

At the protest site, Aman Saxena, a civil services aspirant and a coaching student, said, “If the authorities will not accept our demands, we will go to the Jantar Mantar to further protest and press our demands. We just want justice for the three students who lost their lives in this incident. Police personnel and paramilitary forces have been deployed here in huge numbers. We are not terrorists, we are the future of the nation and demanding what is right.”

Another student claimed that there was a biometric entry into the basement where the incident occurred the students got stuck in the basement due to its failure. Another protestor said the matter on poor condition of coaching institutes should be addressed in Parliament.

Amit Kumar, another student protestor, urged that the incident should not be politicised. “We are demanding that following accountability, action should be taken against the guilty, and justice and compensation for the families of deceased. This matter should not be turned into a political issue,” Kumar said.

The protestors also accused the MCD for the incident. They raised slogans against the civic body and demanded its commissioner met them.

Mohak Gupta, another coaching student, said, “We have come here to study and students want a safe environment for exam preparation. The condition is same at every coaching institute. When mock tests are being held, thousands of students sit in the basement areas to appear in those tests. We had hoped of a change in the condition of coaching centres after the fire incident at the coaching institute in Mukherjee Nagar, but nothing happened.”

Gunaseelan, a resident of Tamil Nadu who is also a student of a coaching institute in the area, said students are spending lakhs of rupees but not getting proper facilities. “I have come here from Tamil Nadu for UPSC coaching. We are spending lakhs of rupees and not getting proper facilities. My family heard about the incident and they called me. I assured them that I am fine,” he said.

Students highlighted safety violations at coaching centres across the city, and raised questions over the “negligence” of the Delhi government. “There is a systemic problem in these coaching centres with a lack of interest in safety measures. There are no fire exits or emergency exits,” said a student.