New Delhi: A local court on Sunday placed the owner and coordinator of Rau’s IAS Study Circle in Old Rajinder Nagar into 14-day judicial custody, reported PTI. This follows the deaths of three civil services aspirants due to flooding in the coaching center’s basement library.
The coaching center’s owner, Abhishek Gupta, and coordinator, Deshpal Singh, were brought before a magistrate, who ordered their 14-day judicial custody.
Meanwhile, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) sealed the basements of 13 civil services institutes in Old Rajinder Nagar on Sunday.
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By Sunday night, the MCD had sealed the basements of IAS Gurukul, Chahal Academy, Plutus Academy, Sai Trading, IAS Setu, Topper’s Academy, Dainik Samvad, Civils Daily IAS, Career Power, 99 Notes, Vidya Guru, Guidance IAS, and Easy for IAS.
As per the local authorities, at least 35 people were trapped in the basement on Saturday evening, all of them were either institute staffers or students.
The police have filed an FIR under various sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), including Section 105 for culpable homicide, Section 106(1) for causing death by a rash or negligent act not amounting to culpable homicide, Section 115(2) for voluntarily causing hurt, and Section 290 for negligent conduct related to building activities such as pulling down, repairing, or constructing.
According to the FIR, Abhishek Gupta admitted that the Rau’s IAS coaching center’s basement lacked a drainage system, leading to the deaths of three aspirants, PTI reported.
A senior official involved in the investigation told PTI that the probe has identified two primary causes for the incident: the civic authorities’ failure to clear the roadside drain before the monsoon and the absence of a drainage system in the basement where an unauthorized library was operating. Multiple teams were formed by the Delhi Police to determine the incident’s exact cause.
Meanwhile, hundreds of civil services aspirants protested in the areas around Old Rajinder Nagar and Karol Bagh Metro Station, chanting ‘we want justice.’ The protesters blocked the road near Karol Bagh Metro Station, leading to traffic jams.
A clash occurred between the students and the police, resulting in several protesters being detained and transported away by bus. Following which the demonstrators dispersed, and traffic in the area was restored.
An MCD official stated that the building completion certificate for the institute specifies that the basement is designated solely for parking and storage. This indicates that operating a library in the basement was unauthorized, the official noted.
Congress MP and Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi, on Sunday, expressed his strong condemnation of the administrative lapses that led to the tragic deaths. “This collapse of infrastructure is a collective failure of the system. The common citizen is paying the price of unsafe construction, poor town planning and irresponsibility of institutions at every level by losing his life,” Rahul Gandhi said in a post on ‘X’.
Several videos of the incident have gone viral on social media, showing students attempting to escape drowning as rainwater inundated the coaching institute’s basement. One video captures the main entry gate of the coaching center collapsing due to the heavy rainwater on Saturday evening, which led to the basement being flooded, reported PTI.