LIVE | Coaching centre deaths: Delhi police form multiple probe teams
The three students who died in the flooding of the coaching centre's basement were from Uttar Pradesh, Telangana and Kerala
Delhi Police on Sunday (July 28) arrested the owner and coordinator of the coaching centre at Old Rajendra Nagar where three students died due to flooding, following heavy rains. It has formed multiple probe teams to figure out how the entire incident unfolded.
They have been identified as Abhishek Gupta, the owner of the coaching centre and Deshpal Singh, its coordinator. The duo has been booked for culpable homicide among other charges, police said.
"We have registered an FIR at Rajinder Nagar Police Station under sections 105 (culpable homicide), 106(1) (death of any person by doing any rash or negligent act not amounting to culpable homicide), 115(2) (punishment for voluntarily causing hurt), 290 (negligent conduct with respect to pulling down, repairing or constructing buildings) and 35 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and launched an investigation," Deputy Commissioner of Police M Harsha Vardhan said.
"Search and rescue operation ended. Total three bodies were recovered from the basement. All were identified and we have informed the family members about the incident," the officer said.
Shreya Yadav of Ambedkar Nagar in Uttar Pradesh, Tanya Soni from Telangana and Navin Dalwin from Ernakulam in Kerala were identified to have died in the incident, police said.
The three civil services aspirants died on Saturday after the basement of a building, which was part of a coaching centre, was flooded following heavy rain in central Delhi's Old Rajinder Nagar area.
Regarding how the basement got flooded so quickly that the students got no time to escape, a senior MCD official said street dwellers have encroached upon and covered the storm drains used to carry away the water accumulated during heavy rain. Reportedly, a drain burst on Saturday and led to the rapid flooding of the coaching centre's basement. It is not yet completely clear why the students did not get any time to climb out of the basement to safety.
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- 28 July 2024 9:28 AM GMT
'Criminal neglect, failure of basic maintenance': Delhi LG on coaching centre deaths
Delhi Lt Governor VK Saxena on Sunday directed the divisional commissioner to submit a report on the incident at a coaching centre in Rajinder Nagar where three civil service aspirants were killed due to rain-induced flooding in the basement.
The LG said the incident points to "criminal neglect" and lack of "basic maintenance" by concerned agencies. Saxena said he is deeply anguished by the incident of death of the civil services aspirants. "That this should happen in the Capital of India is most unfortunate & unacceptable," he said in a post on X.
"Reportedly 7 other citizens have died due to electrocution in the past few days. My deepest condolences to the families of those who have lost their lives. You are in my thoughts and prayers," he said.
Saxena said he has been keeping a close watch over the situation and has monitored the rescue operations by Delhi Police and the fire department personally. "These incidents clearly points towards criminal neglect & failure of basic maintenance & administration by concerned agencies & departments," he said in another post.
"Drainage in the city and related infrastructure, as also required efforts and endeavours to address these have apparently collapsed, Saxena said. He added that the incident is indicative of the "larger malaise of misgovernance that Delhi has been subjected to during the last decade or so".
The role of coaching institutions and landlords in not ensuring basic safety of students, who pay hefty fees and rents, away from their homes needs to be looked into, the LG said. "What has been happening is unpardonable and such issues can no more be glossed over. I have asked the Divisional Commissioner to submit a report, covering every aspect of the tragic incident by Tuesday," he added.
- 28 July 2024 9:26 AM GMT
Coaching centre falsely showed basement as store room in documents
The basement of the coaching Institute in Old Rajendra Nagar where three civil services aspirants died by rain-induced flooding was functioning illegally as a library, officials said on Sunday.
Rao's IAS Study Circle, the coaching institute, had falsely shown that the basement was being used for parking and as a store room, as per the building plan and No Objection Certificate (NOC) of the fire department. The three-storey coaching centre had its building plan approved by the concerned MCD department in 2021.
"In the building completion certificate of the institute, it is clearly written that it can only be used for parking and storage in the basement. It means that the library was running illegally in the basement," an MCD official said.
The three civil services aspirants died on Saturday after the basement of a building, which was part of a coaching centre, was flooded following heavy rain in central Delhi's Old Rajinder Nagar area.
MCD commissioner Ashwani Kumar, after taking charge in June, has suspended several officers from the corporation's building department. Last week, three officers of the department were suspended at the zone where the coaching centre is located. There was immediate reaction from the commissioner on the reason behind the suspension.
The coaching institute made a similar disclosure to the fire department about the basement, thus also violating its norms, according to Delhi Fire Services chief Atul Garg.
Garg said, "The building has fire NOC, but in the NOC they had shown the basement as a store room. The management of the institute was using the same room as a classroom or library which is a violation of the NOC," Garg told PTI.
Locals complained that there are several other coaching institutions in the area which operate from the basement.
Delhi Mayor Shelly Oberoi has issued directions to take strict action coaching institutes found flouting the building bye-laws and ascertain if any MCD officer is responsible for the incident.
