Delhi Police on July 28 detained the owner and coordinator of the IAS coaching centre where three students lost their lives after the basement of the institute was filled with water, a senior police officer said.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Central, M Harshavardhan also said that the police have registered a case against the coaching institute, the management of the building, and those responsible for the maintenance of the drain at that location.
“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.
Search operation ends after seven hours
After seven hours of rescue efforts, the NDRF has ended its search at the coaching centre in Delhi's Old Rajinder Nagar area where three civil services aspirants died last night when the basement of the building was flooded following heavy rains, officials said on Sunday.
Students held a protest and raised slogans against authorities outside the coaching centre over the deaths in the basement, which according to preliminary probe houses a library.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (central) M. Harsha Vardhan said, "NDRF's search operation has ended and three bodies have been recovered. NDRF's rescue operation went on for around seven hours."
Police is looking at CCTV footage to understand the sequence of events, the DCP said.
The bodies of two female students and a male student were retrieved from the site during the rescue operation by the NDRF, local police and fire department.
Police is yet to reveal the names of the victims.
‘Call received at 7 p.m. on July 27’
According to the Delhi Fire Department (DFS), a call about waterlogging was received from Rau's IAS Study Circle at around 7 p.m. on July 27 and that that there was a possibility that some people were trapped.
Search and rescue operation is under way at a coaching institute in Old Rajender Nagar after rainwater filled its basement in New Delhi on July 27, 2024. | Photo Credit: ANI
Police said it appeared that the basement got flooded very fast due to which some people were trapped inside.
A fire department official said that a total of five tenders were rushed to the site. The basement was full of water when they arrived.
Revenue Minister Atishi has directed Chief Secretary Naresh Kumar to initiate an inquiry and submit a report within 24 hours on the incident.
Visuals from Delhi’s Old Rajinder Nagar, where 3 students died in a coaching centre last night when the basement of the building was flooded following heavy rains. | Photo Credit: Shashi Shekhar Kashyap
"A magisterial inquiry has been ordered to investigate how this incident happened. Whoever is responsible for this incident will not be spared," Ms. Atishi posted on X on July 27.
Delhi Mayor calls for action against coaching centres being run from basements
Delhi Mayor Shelly Oberoi directed that take strict action be taken against commercial activities being run in basements.
Ms. Oberoi directed the MCD Commissioner to take strict action against all such coaching centres across Delhi which are under the jurisdiction of MCD and running commercial activities in basements, which she said are in violation of building bye-laws and are not as per norms.
She also called for an inquiry to identify if any MCD officers were responsible in the incident.
“Yesterday some students were trapped in a private coaching institute being run in Rajinder Nagar due to flooding and out of them three students lost their lives. This is very shocking. This incident needs thorough investigation and swift and strongest possible action,” Oberoi said.
“It is also our responsibility to ensure that such an incident does not recur in any part of Delhi,” the Mayor added.
Directing the MCD commissioner to take action against coaching centres being run from basements, Ms. Oberoi asked for an immediate inquiry to identify if any officers of MCD are also responsible for the incident.
“If any official is found guilty, strongest possible action be taken against them,” she said.
Delhi BJP blames AAP administration
Delhi BJP chief Virendra Sachdeva and New Delhi MP Bansuri Swaraj visited the site and blamed the AAP administration for the incident, saying the local MLA had ignored repeated appeals by locals to get the drains cleaned.
"Delhi Government's criminal negligence is responsible for this mishap. Jal Board Minister Atishi and local MLA Durgesh Pathak should take responsibility and resign," Mr. Sachdeva said.
Ms. Swaraj said that divers had to be called to rescue the students.
"For the past week, locals were urging AAP MLA Durgesh Pathak to get the drain here cleaned. However, Durgesh Pathak didn't listen to them. Arvind Kejriwal, Durgesh Pathak and the AAP government are entirely responsible for this incident," she said.
Rescue operation underway for missing students after a nearby drain burst caused flooding at the basement of a UPSC coaching centre, in Delhi’s Old Rajendra Nagar on July 27, 2024. | Photo Credit: PTI
Preliminary investigation suggests that the basement housed a library where several students were present. Water suddenly started flooding the basement. Ropes were used to evacuate the trapped students, officials said.
The furniture in the coaching centre started floating when it was flooded and this created obstruction in the rescue operation, a police officer said.
Earlier this week, a 26-year-old civil services aspirant was electrocuted after he touched an iron gate following heavy rain in central Delhi's Patel Nagar area.
