Delhi Coaching Centre Deaths: Three UPSC candidates lost their lives after getting trapped in the flooded basement of Rau's IAS coaching centre due to heavy rainfall on Saturday. The Delhi Police have detained Abhishek Gupta, the CEO and owner of the centre, and Deshpal Singh, his coordinator, in connection with the deaths. Shortly after their arrest, the two appeared in front of a magistrate's court, which sent them to 14-day judicial custody.
The other defendants, in addition to Abhishek Gupta, are facing charges under sections 105 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder), 106 (1) causing death by negligence, 115 (2) causing hurt, and 290 (negligence about building) of the Indian Penal Code.
Who is Abhishek Gupta?
Abhishek Gupta has a career spanning education and corporate sectors. Since February 2009, he has been the owner and operator of Rau's IAS Study Circle, which prepares students for the civil services examinations.
As mentioned in his LinkedIn profile, Gupta had started his professional journey as an analyst at Watson Wyatt, where he worked from 2004 to 2006.
His next stint was with Evalueserve, a knowledge process outsourcing firm, where he worked for nearly a year.
In 2007, he moved to Jones Lang LaSalle, a professional services firm specialising in real estate and investment management, and worked there until 2008.
As far as his education is concerned, according to his LinkedIn profile, Abhishek Gupta completed schooling from Modern School in Delhi (1988–2001) and did his graduation from Shaheed Sukhdev College of Business Studies (2001–2004).
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IAS Coaching Center Fees
The Rau's IAS Study Circle was established in 1953 by Dr. S. Rau, who started it in a small room in Connaught Place, according to the coaching centre's website.
The cost of attending the coaching facility at his centre for nine to ten months is more than Rs 1.5 lakh.
The centre is now functioning from Old Rajinder Nagar, where the basement unexpectedly got flooded on Saturday. There were roughly 30 students present at the coaching centre at that time.
Among the students who died in the flooded basement were Shreya Yadav from Ambedkar Nagar, Nivin Dalvin from Kerala, and Tanya Soni from Telangana.
Rau's IAS Study Circle was said to be running a library from the basement, and according to the FIR, it did not have the necessary clearances.
Quoting the fire department, reports said the centre had an NOC only to use the basement for storage, and not to run a library.
The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) is now pursuing legal action against other coaching centres also in the area for negligence.
Students are meanwhile protesting, and want strict action taken against those responsible for the three deaths.
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Delhi Coaching Flooding: What Happened At Rau's IAS Study Circle
The tragedy at the coaching centre occurred on Saturday as a result of heavy rain in the capital, which flooded the institute's basement.
At around 7 pm, the Delhi fire department received a call regarding waterlogging, with reports stating that two or three students were stuck in the flooded basement at the time. But by the time they reached, the basement was completely submerged.
Rainwater kept flowing into the basement, making it difficult to pump out the water immediately. It took the fire department a few hours to lower the water level, and recover the three bodies.
There were about 30 students inside the coaching centre at that time, of whom 12–14 were rescued and taken to a hospital, according to the police. Some students had managed to escape.
While Rau's Study Circle is a prominent coaching centre, there are several others running in Old Rajinder Nagar, and the MCD sealed 13 of them Sunday.
The Delhi Police have so far arrested seven people in connection with the three deaths.