Flooding at basement library of Rau's IAS Study Circle; UPSC aspirants from Kerala, Telangana and Uttar Pradesh face tragic death

NEW DELHI: Three students, including a Malayali, tragically died when a civil service training centre was flooded in rain. Water rushed into the library below the road level at Rau's IAS Study Circle coaching centre in Old Rajinder Nagar, near Karol Bagh, Delhi.

The deceased Malayali is Nevin Dalvin Suresh (23), a native of Neeleswaram, Malayattoor, Ernakulam, and a research student at JNU. The other two students are Shreya Yadav (25) from Ambedkar Nagar, Uttar Pradesh and Tania Soni (26) from Telangana. They were trapped in the building while other students and staff were escaping. The incident took place on Saturday at 7 pm. Shreya's and Tania's bodies were found on Saturday night while Nevin's body was recovered yesterday morning. The bodies were shifted to Rammanohar Lohia Hospital on Saturday night.

Nevin is the son of retired DYSP Dalvin Suresh, a native of Thiruvananthapuram, and Dr TS Lancelet, former head of the Geography Department of Kalady Sanskrit University. Nevin's only sister Nessy is a teacher at Marampally MES College, Aluva. Relatives reached Delhi by yesterday night.

Bodily remains to reach Thiruvananthapuram today

Nevin's body will be brought to Thiruvananthapuram at 5 pm today after post-mortem. The public viewing will be held at the home of Nevin's father, Dalvin. Funeral rites have not been decided.

Water rose 12 feet

• The water in the drain parallel to the road broke the wall and flowed to the basement floor. The entire floor was flooded and the water rose up to 12 feet. The library was operating illegally in the basement.
• It is suspected that three of the deceased were electrocuted, but this will be clarified only in the post-mortem. It is suspected that the Biometrics system of the door did not work after the power supply stopped and they were trapped without being able to open the door.
• The drainage system was not properly maintained. The water rose during the rain due to this. No action was taken for days even after informing about drainage. The narrow path to the building also added to the disaster.

Owner and coordinator arrested

Delhi Police has filed charges including murder. Abhishek Gupta, the owner of the training centre and the coordinator were arrested. The Delhi government has ordered a magisterial inquiry. Delhi Lt Governor VK Saxena has sought a report from the Divisional Commissioner. The report should be submitted tomorrow.

Massive protest

Students blocked the main road demanding a thorough investigation. Traffic was snarled for hours. Those detained were released. The students said they had opposed facilities including libraries functioning in the basement of many training centers. The students demanded that the cause of death and the actual death toll be released.