Among the seven people arrested in connection with the basement tragedy in Delhi’s Rajinder Nagar is the driver of an SUV that passed the coaching centre when the road outside was flooded. The Force Gurkha SUV, a viral video shows, passed Rau’s IAS Study Circle and its movement sent a wave of water towards the gate of the coaching centre. Voices in the video are heard shouting, “gate has fallen”.
Three IAS aspirants died after heavy rain on Saturday evening led to flooding in the library of the coaching centre. The library is in the basement of the building, and 20-odd students were trapped. While 17 were rescued in time, three drowned.
Police have registered a case under sections related to culpable homicide not amounting to murder and causing death due to negligence. Seven people, including owners of the building and the coaching centre, have been arrested. Also among those arrested is the driver of the SUV seen in the video.
Senior police officer M Harshvardhan said the SUV driver had been arrested on the basis of the viral video. He said the SUV was driven at high speed and the gate of the building was later found damaged.
“Negligence has been established on the part of the arrested driver, who has been arrested in the Old Rajinder Nagar case. He was driving very fast. Due to this, the gate of the coaching centre broke. A street vendor had tried to stop him,” the DCP said.
Police said the passage of the SUV at high speed sent water gushing towards the coaching centre.
“At the beginning of the video, the gate of the coaching institute was fine, but after the car passed, it broke and fell down. The accused driver has no connection with the coaching owner or the building owner,” the senior officer said.
Many in social media have, however, questioned the SUV driver’s arrest and pointed out that the gate of the institute had railings and wouldn’t have stopped water anyway.
Shreya Yadav, Tanya Soni and Nevin Dalwin died in the basement tragedy that has sparked massive protests. Students and the Opposition have targeted the Aam Aadmi Party, which is in power in Delhi and also controls the city’s civic body.
Under fire, the Municipal Corporation in Delhi has launched a crackdown against coaching centres in Rajinder Nagar that have violated building norms. Thirteen coaching centres have been sealed and bulldozer action carried out to remove encroachment that blocked drains and contributed to waterlogging.
