3 students dead in basement flooding at Delhi's UPSC coaching center; owner and coordinator detained

New Delhi: The Delhi Police on Sunday detained the owner and coordinator of the coaching centre where three students died due to flooding following heavy rains, officials said.

Police has booked them under charges of culpable homicide among other charges, they said.

"We have registered an FIR at Rajinder Nagar Police Station 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) and launched an investigation. So far we have detained two people -- owner and coordinator of the coaching centre," Deputy Commissioner of Police M Harsha Vardhan said.

"Search and rescue operation ended. Total three bodies were recovered from the basement. All were identified and we have informed the family members about the incident," the DCP said.

He had earlier revealed that "a criminal case has been registered. Our forensic teams are here. The process of collecting forensic evidence is underway. We are committed to the fact that we should have a proper investigation. We are committed to registering a strong case and finding out the truth. Two people have been detained so far."

Water being pumped out

He further mentioned that one final round of search operations is pending and that the operation is moving towards a conclusion.

"The NDRF has recovered three bodies till now. These have been sent for further legal action. The water is being pumped out continuously. One final round of search operations is pending. The operation is moving towards conclusion. Some trapped students have been rescued and three of them have been sent to the hospital. Other than the three dead bodies, 13 to 14 others were rescued and they are fine," DCP Harshavardhan said.

Students protesting

A group of students also staged a protest against the MCD at the spot after the recovery of bodies.

DCP Central, M Harshavardhan, urged all the students not to carry protests as it would hamper the rescue services.

Slamming the AAP government, Delhi BJP Chief Virendra Sachdeva said that the corruption in Municipal Corporation of Delhi should be inquired.

"There should be an inquiry into the corruption of Arvind Kejriwal, Atishi and their government. Delhi Municipal Corporation's corruption should be inquired. There should be an inquiry as to why the drainage was not cleaned. Will they order an inquiry into this?" he said.

(with PTI and ANI inputs)