Basement owners among 5 more arrested in Delhi coaching centre flooding incident

New Delhi, Jul 29 (PTI) Delhi Police on Monday said it has arrested five more people, including an SUV owner and four co-owners of the basement of a four-storey building where three IAS aspirants died after it was flooded following heavy rains.

With these arrests, the total number of people arrested in the case so far has risen to seven.

The five accused -- Tejinder Singh, Parvinder Singh, Harvinder Singh and Sarabjeet Singh, the four co-owners of the basement of the coaching centre at Old Rajinder Nagar, and the driver of a car, Manuj Kathuria -- were produced in a court here and were sent to judicial custody till August 12. Their bail pleas will be heard on Tuesday.

Kathuria drove his sports utility vehicle (SUV) through the street that was flooded by rainwater on Saturday, causing the water to swell and breach the gates of the three-storey building and inundate the basement. The SUV has been seized.

The owner and the coordinator of the Rau's IAS Study Circle in the Old Rajinder Nagar area have already been arrested, and booked for culpable homicide and other charges.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (Central) M Harsha Vardhan said each floor of the building is owned by different persons.

"Five more people have been arrested in connection with the flooding case in Rajinder Nagar. This includes the owner of the basement and an individual who drove a vehicle which appears to have damaged the gate of the building," Deputy Commissioner of Police (Central) M Harsha Vardhan said.

Police are committed to ensuring strict action against all those responsible for the incident, the officer said.

Investigation has revealed that the co-owners had rented out the basement to the coaching centre in 2021. They had not set up any drainage system in the basement which was functioning as a library.

The documents with the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) showed that the basement was being used as a store room by the coaching centre.

On Monday, police recovered the statements of four more people, including students who got trapped in the flooded basement. Police said that statements of a few more people are yet to be recorded. Police officials are collecting images and videos of both inside and outside the building when water started gushing into the building. CCTV footage from the area are also being scanned.

The Delhi Police has written to the MCD seeking the status of de-silting of drains in the area and the clearance certificate issued by them to the Rau's IAS Study Circle.

They have also sought details if any complaint was given against the coaching institute to the civic agency or not. And if the complaint was given, what actions were taken by them. PTI ALK ALK NSD NSD