Himalaya Harbinger, Rudrapur Bureau.
Three civil service aspirants died after the basement of a building housing a coaching centre was flooded following heavy rain in parts of Delhi on Saturday. The incident happened at the Rau’s IAS Study Circle in the Old Rajinder Nagar area.
A criminal case was registered and two people were detained in the incident.
“We have registered a criminal case. Our forensic teams are here. The process of collecting forensic evidence is underway. We are committed to the fact that there should be a proper investigation. We are committed to registering a strong case and finding out the truth. Two people have been detained so far,” senior police officer M Harshavardhan said.
The Delhi Fire Department officials confirmed to news agency PTI that they had received a call informing them of a flooded basement at the coaching centre at nearly 7 pm.
Talking to reporters, DCP Harshavardhan said, “The caller told us that there was a possibility that some people were trapped. We are investigating how the entire basement was flooded. It appeared that the basement got flooded very fast, which caused some people to be trapped inside.”
A fire department official said the basement was flooded when they arrived.
The three students, one male and two females, were first reported missing due to the flooding.
Their bodies were recovered after a search operation was conducted by a team of the Delhi Police, fire officials and the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF).
The victims were identified as Tania Soni (25), Shreya Yadav (25), and Nevin Dalwin (28).
A police official said the water was being pumped out from the basement.
A preliminary investigation in the case suggested that the basement housed a library where several students were present.
Ropes were used to evacuate the trapped students after the basement was flooded, officials said, adding that the floating furniture at the coaching centre obstructed the rescue operation.
Soon after the incident, students protested the deaths of the three civil service aspirants, raising slogans against the authorities.
Meanwhile, Delhi Minister Atishi directed Chief Secretary Naresh Kumar to initiate an inquiry and submit a report within 24 hours on the incident.
