NDRF recovers bodies of 3 civil services aspirants from flooded Delhi coaching centre

  Students detained during protest for action against culprits

Police is looking at CCTV footage to understand the sequence of events, the DCP said

PTI, NEW DELHI, JULY 28, 2024 : 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.

According to the Delhi Fire Department (DFS), a call about waterlogging was received from Rau's IAS Study Circle at around 7 pm on Saturday and that that there was a possibility that some people were trapped.

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.

"A magisterial inquiry has been ordered to investigate how this incident happened. Whoever is responsible for this incident will not be spared," Atishi posted on X on Saturday.

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," Sachdeva said.

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.

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.

Delhi government's criminal negligence is responsible for this mishap. Jal Board Minister Atishi and local MLA Durgesh Pathak should take responsibility and resign," Sachdeva said. 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.

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 center started floating when it was flooded, which created an obstruction in the rescue operation, a police officer said. A few students were detained after they staged a protest in the area, demanding action against those responsible for the deaths of three civil services aspirants 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 traffic movement there. The police also used body cameras and drones to monitor protestors' activities during the demonstration.

Shreya Yadav of Ambedkar Nagar in Uttar Pradesh, Tanya Soni from Telangana, and Navin Dalwin from Ernakulam in Kerala died after the basement of the building housing the coaching center Rau's IAS Study Circle was flooded following heavy rain in central Delhi's Old Rajinder Nagar area on Saturday evening, officials said.
At the protest site, Aman Saxena, a civil services aspirant and coaching student, said: "If the authorities do not accept our demands, we will go to 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," Saxena said.

Another student claimed that there was a biometric entry into the basement where the incident occurred, and the students got stuck in the basement due to its failure. Another protestor said the matter on the poor condition of coaching institutes should be addressed in Parliament. Amit Kumar, another student protestor, urged that the incident should not be politicized. "We are demanding that following accountability, action should be taken against the guilty, and justice and compensation for the families of the deceased. This matter should not be turned into a political issue," Kumar said. The protestors also accused the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) for the incident. They raised slogans against the civic body and demanded its commissioner meet them.