Absence of drainage system and safety measures, and use of basement for commercial activities in violation of norms led to the death of three civil services aspirants at a coaching centre in central Delhi's Old Rajinder Nagar area, officials and students said on Sunday.
The Delhi Police on Sunday arrested the owner and the coordinator of the coaching centre -- Rau's IAS Study Circle -- and booked them for culpable homicide and other charges.
A political blame game began as the BJP and the Congress attacked the AAP government, calling the incident a "murder".
Shreya Yadav of Ambedkar Nagar in Uttar Pradesh, Tanya Soni from Telangana, and Navin Dalwin from Ernakulam in Kerala died after the basement of a building housing the coaching institute was flooded following heavy rain on Saturday evening.
While there was no official word, some students alleged that the incident took place after several people got trapped in the basement due to malfunctioning of entry-exit biometric system.
According to the officials, the three-storey coaching institute, surrounded by residential and commercial establishments, had permission to use the basement as a store room, but it was being used as library in violation of the rules.
An FIR was registered at Rajinder Nagar police station under sections 105 (culpable homicide) and 290 (negligent conduct with respect to pulling down, repairing or constructing buildings), among others, of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). So far, two people -- coaching centre owner Abhishek Gupta and coordinator Deshpal Singh -- have been arrested.
According to the FIR, Gupta accepted that there was no drainage system in the basement, which resulted in the death of three people.
A senior official privy to the investigation said the probe so far has indicated two main reasons for the incident -- civic authorities failed to clear the roadside drain before the onset of monsoon and there was no provision for draining out water in the basement where a library was running illegally.
The Delhi Police has formed multiple teams to probe the actual cause of the incident.
A police officer said more than 35 people, including students and coaching centre staffers, were trapped on Saturday evening when water started gushing into the basement following heavy rains.
According to sources in the police department, the basement's gate was closed, but due to the high pressure of the rainwater that gushed in, it got damaged.
Meanwhile, hundreds of civil services aspirants staged a protest in the area.
Raising slogans "we want justice", the protesters blocked the road next to the Karol Bagh Metro Station, causing traffic snarls and prompting police intervention.
A scuffle erupted between the students and police, after which a few protesters were detained and taken away in a bus. Following this, demonstrators dispersed from the area and the traffic movement was resumed there.
According to Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) officials, the coaching centre had its building plan approved by the civic body in 2021.
An MCD official said that in the building completion certificate of the institute, it is clearly written that the basement can only be used for parking and storage. It means that the library was running illegally in the basement, the official said.
The official further said that the storm drains built to carry away excess water after heavy rains in the Old Rajinder Nagar area were covered by encroachers.
The drains in the area were heavily clogged with silt and overflowed leading to a flood-like situation due to the rains that lashed parts of Delhi on Saturday, locals complained.
Several videos of the incident went viral on social media in which some students are seen trying to save themselves from drowning after rain water flooded the basement of the coaching institute.
In one of videos, the main entry gate of the coaching centre is seen falling due to excessive rainwater on Saturday evening, leading to the basement being flooded.
Delhi Fire Services Chief Atul Garg said that the coaching institute made a disclosure to the fire department about the basement in which the centre said it would be used as a store room.
"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.
Meanwhile, Rau's IAS on Sunday condoled the loss of young lives and said they are fully committed to supporting the ongoing investigation.
In a statement, the institute said, "RAU's IAS Study Circle is fully committed to supporting the ongoing investigations into this tragic incident. We are cooperating fully with the relevant authorities and agencies to ensure that all necessary information is provided and that the investigation proceeds with the utmost diligence."
Two of the three students who drowned in flooded water in the institute's basement were the students of the Jawaharlal Nehru University and the Delhi University.
Tanya Soni (21), a resident of Telangana who was originally from Bihar's Aurangabad, was a DU student. Tanya, who took the admission in the coaching institute just one-and-a-half months ago, was presently staying at a girl's hostel of Maharaja Agrasen College.
A friend of Tanya, who did not wish to be named, said her father works in a mining company in Telangana. She was the eldest child of her parents. She had younger siblings, a brother and a sister.
Meanwhile, families and friends of the victims demanded action against those involved in the tragic incident.
At the RML Hospital mortuary, the friends and families of the three deceased were in a state of shock and were inconsolable.
Dharmender Yadav, uncle of victim Shreya Yadav, said he learnt about the incident through news channels.
"I tried to call her but her mobile phone was switched off. Even the coaching centre's number was not reachable. I left Ghaziabad and reached the place where she stayed but her room was locked," the uncle said.
"Shreya had completed her BSc in agriculture and joined the coaching centre in May," he said.
Delhi Lt Governor V K Saxena directed the divisional commissioner to submit a report on the deaths of the three civil services aspirants.
The LG said the incident points to "criminal neglect" and lack of "basic maintenance" by concerned agencies and said the guilty will be brought to book.
Meanwhile, the Congress called for fixing accountability over the death of three IAS aspirants in Delhi, with Rahul Gandhi, in a post on X, asserting that common people are paying the price for "irresponsibility of institutions" at every level.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said it is very sad that three youths lost their lives after waterlogging in the basement of an IAS coaching centre in the capital due to the "criminal negligence of the government and administration".
Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said, "The incident of the death of three students due to waterlogging in the basement of a coaching institute in Delhi is heartbreaking. I pray to God for the departed souls and the bereaved families."
On its part, the BJP demanded registration of cases against concerned officers for "criminal negligence" and resignation of Water Minister Atishi and local AAP MLA Durgesh Pathak for the death of three civil services aspirants.
This is "murder" not any accident, said Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva and demanded Rs 3 crore compensation for the families of the three students.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) demanded crackdown on illegal commercial operations in basements across Delhi.
Senior AAP leader and MCD in-charge Pathak condemned the practice as a criminal activity and warned that without intervention, future incidents are inevitable.
He stressed the need for a transparent investigation into the recent incident and criticised the BJP, which were in power in MCD before the AAP replaced it last year, for neglecting the city's drainage system for the past 15 years.
Taking cognizance of the incident, the National Commission for Women has summoned Pathak to appear before it on August 2.
