As outrage over the deaths of three IAS aspirants continued, the Delhi Police on Monday arrested five more people. The now infamous locality, Old Rajinder Nagar, witnessed a bulldozer in action, cracking down on encroachments.
Preliminary investigations by the police have suggested that a Force Gurkha SUV wading through the rainwater was a contributing factor to the flooding of the coaching institute, which claimed three young lives.A viral video showed the speeding vehicle creating ripples in the water, causing it to breach the coaching centre’s gates and leading to the sudden flooding of the basement in just a few minutes. “The vehicle owner is a separate individual. He has no connections with anyone from the coaching centre or the owners,” said a senior police official, adding that the police are committed to ensuring strict action against all those responsible.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (Central) M Harsha Vardhan said each floor of the building is owned by a different person. “Five more persons have been arrested in connection with the flooding case in Rajinder Nagar. This includes the owner of the basement of Rau coaching and the individual who drove a vehicle which appears to have damaged the gate of the building (leading to water gushing in the basement),” he said.
The owner and coordinator were produced before a magisterial court on Sunday.
The number of arrests in the case has increased to seven, including the earlier arrests of the owner, Abhishek Gupta, and the coordinator, Deshpal Singh, of Rau’s IAS Study Circle. All the seven people have been sent to 14 days judicial custody.
They were charged under under sections 105 (culpable homicide), 106(1) (death of any person by doing any rash or negligent act not amounting to culpable homicide), 115(2) (punishment for voluntarily causing hurt), 290 (negligent conduct with respect to pulling down, repairing or constructing buildings) and 35 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).
The arrested people include four co-owners of the building namely Parvinder Singh, Sarvjit Singh, Harvinder Singh and Tejender Singh and the driver of the SUV identified as Manoj Kataria.
Meanwhile, the old Rajinder Nagar area, which is a hub of UPSC coaching centres, saw a ‘bulldozer action’ cracking down on encroachments on the drains which leads to heavy waterlogging in the area.
Further, Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) launched a crackdown with bulldozers employed to clear out encroachments blocking drains. The civic body began a bulldozer operation to clear cement blocks obstructing drains that leave the area chronically waterlogged.
The Delhi Fire Services (DFS) also initiated the process of cancelling the NOC (no-objection certificate) of the coaching centre. “The fire NOC was issued to the building after it fulfilled all the norms. But there was no system to pump the water out from the basement. We have initiated the process of cancelling the fire NOC,” a senior Delhi Fire Services official said, adding that a letter will be issued from the department regarding cancellation of the NOC of the building.
Delhi Lieutenant Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena visited the coaching hub in the area and interacted with protesting students over the death of their colleague. Officials said the protesting students explained their grievances to the LG who assured them that action will be taken in the matter.