The death of three civil service aspirants in New Delhi's Old Rajendra Nagar area has led to an uproar in the national capital. The Municipal Corporation of Delhi has sprung in action against illegal coaching centres and has sealed three institutes in the area.
The three civil services aspirants -- two females and a male -- died after a library housed in the basement of RAU's IAS Study Circle flooded in a heavy rain on Saturday night and reportedly led to the failure of the single biometric entry and exit point.
The negligence of the institute and the municipal authorities saw protests on Sunday with students protesting at the Karol Bagh metro station amid heavy police deployment. The Delhi Police detained several students from the spot. Meanwhile, the BJP and the AAP are engaged in a political blame game over the deaths.
Here is a profile of the three students who died in the tragedy on Saturday:
- Shreya Yadav: Shreya Yadav hailed from Ambedkar Nagar in Uttar Pradesh. The eldest among three siblings, she had come to Delhi to prepare for the civil services in April this year. His father used to run a dairy shop in UP while his two younger brothers were in school. He had completed her BSc in agriculture from Kamla Nehru Institute of Technology in Sultanpur.
His uncle, Dharmender Yadav, said he learnt about the incident through news channels. "I tried to call her but her phone was switched off. Even the coaching centre's number was not reachable. I left from Ghaziabad and reached the place where she stayed but her room was locked. I went to the coaching centre where I met the DCP and he asked me to go to RML Hospital," the uncle said.
- Tanya Soni: Tanya Soni hailed from Secunderabad in Telangana. Her father, Vijay Kumar, his wife, and another daughter were on a train to Lucknow when they received the news of Tanya’s death. She graduated from Delhi University and then decided to pursue UPSC.
She had been staying at a women's hostel of DU's Maharaja Agrasen College and had taken admission in the coaching institute one and a half months ago, her friend said. She originally hailed from Aurangabad in Bihar and her body was brought to her ancestral city. Tanya's father works in a mining company in Telangana. She had two younger siblings, a brother and a sister.
- Navin Dalwin: Nevin was a resident of Neeleeswaram in Ernakulam district of Kerala. 23-year-old Dalwin was pursuing his PhD from JNU. He was the son of former police officer Delvin Suresh and T S Linslet, former Geography department head at Kalady University. Nevin had a sister too. His friend remembered him as a hardworking student.
He had come to Delhi after completing his MA in 2017. He had joined the coaching institute eight months ago but was staying in a rented accommodation near the university in Vasant Kunj area. Police said Nevin was not a full time student of the centre and would often come to library for books.
Former JNUSU students' union president Aishe Ghosh, who came to the hospital, said, "Whatever has happened is very tragic. Young lives were lost. One person who has lost his life was from JNU. Students come here from different places with dreams. It's unfortunate that three students have lost their lives."