After three IAS aspirants including two female students and one male student died due to flooding in the basement of coaching, Delhi police have arrested the owner and coordinator of Rau's IAS Study Circle in Old Rajinder Nagar.
Abhishek Gupta, the owner, and Deshpal Singh, the coordinator, have been booked under charges of culpable homicide and negligence.
According to police, search and rescue operation have ended.
“Total three bodies were recovered from the basement. All were identified and we have informed the family members about the incident,” the DCP said.
The victims have been identified as Tania Soni (25), Shreya Yadav (25), and Nevin Dalwin (28).
While Shreya was from Ambedkar Nagar in Uttar Pradesh, Tanya Soni was from Telangana and Navin Dalwin from Kerala's Ernakulam.
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…”
Delhi Mayor orders action against unauthorised IAS coaching centres
Delhi Mayor Shelly Oberoi ordered action against all coaching centres in the city which are operating from the basement of buildings. She said such coaching centres are in violation of building bye-laws and are not as per norms.
Oberoi also said an immediate inquiry should be conducted to identify if any officers of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) are responsible for the tragedy.
What investigation says?
According to the initial investigation, the basement housed a library where several students were present. Water suddenly started flooding the basement.
The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF)-led search team conducted a seven-hour rescue operation to evacuate the trapped students.
The Fire Department said the coaching centre was issued a no-objection certificate (NOC) which stated that the basement was supposed to be used for storage purposes only.
The department said it would write to the Deputy Commissioner of Police and MCD to initiate action against the coaching centre.
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