Delhi police have arrested five more persons in connection with the death of three civil services aspirants when the basement of their coaching institute was flooded with rainwater. The total number of arrested persons has risen to seven. The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) initiated 'bulldozer action' to demolish illegal encroachment in the Old Rajendra Nagar area on Monday.
A case has been registered under sections 105 (culpable homicide), 106(1) (death of any person by doing any rush 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 3(5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).
Earlier in the day, the owners of the institutes asked students using the basement libraries to vacate after the MCD initiated action against coaching centres violating building bye-laws.
The MCD sealed the basements of 13 coaching centres in Karol Bagh on Sunday for violating building bye-laws amid protests by students. Mayor Shelly Oberoi has directed strict action against coaching centres operating illegally in basements.
The Delhi Police arrested seven persons in connection with the incident, including the owner and coordinator of the coaching centre. The accused have been booked for culpable homicide, among other charges.
"Five more persons, including the owners of the basement and an individual who drove a vehicle which appears to have damaged the gate of the building, were arrested. There was no permission to carry out commercial activity in the basement," DCP Central M Harshavardhan told ANI.
"We have sought information from MCD, and we will examine their role too. The investigation is going on from all angles," the DCP said. The police also appealed to the protesting students to maintain peace and not block the main roads, and they assured strict action in the case.
"Negligence has been established on the part of the arrested driver, who has been arrested by Delhi Police in the Old Rajender Nagar case. He was driving the vehicle very fast, due to which the gate of the coaching centre broke. Before he hit the building gate, a street vendor had tried to stop him," the DCP said.
(With inputs from ANI)
