EXCLUSIVE/ Within 5 Mins, Entire Basement Was Flooded: Eyewitness Narrates Chilling Details To Republic TV

New Delhi: After three IAS aspirants died by drowning in the basement of a coaching Centre in New Delhi, an eye witness who was present when the horrific incident took place recounts the horror to Republic TV. 

Hirdesh Chauhan, who hails from Uttar Pradesh's Kasganj was studying in the basement library of the coaching centre, when the water entered at a massive speed.  

He told Republic TV, “ the moment the heavy rain started. We sat their for 10 minutes a guard came running and shouted that water is soon going to fill the basement evacuate the library. There were two gates one back gate and one entry gate. The water started coming from the back gate first. The speed at which water rushed into the basement was extremely powerful.”

He added, “Few of us managed to escape out of the library and moved to the upper floor. The students who were sitting in the corner, they could not escape. Around 35 students escaped. The main gate broke off due to the pressure of water. Due to the broken gate, the students got stuck in the basement. In five minutes, the entire basement was flooded.”

He further added, "The basement had the capacity of seating 200 students. The electricity went off, due to the darkness we did not that children were stuck in the basement. One student who was the last one to escape informed that feet and hands of few students touched him while he was trying to escape. He told us that there are few students still stuck in the basement. "

Lapses on part of owner, civic authorities exposed 

 Investigations into the Old Rajinder Nagar coaching centre flooding incident that led to the death of three IAS aspirants have indicated multiple lapses on the part of its owner and civic authorities, officials said on Sunday.

The Delhi Police has registered an FIR and formed multiple teams to probe the incident. The owner and the coordinator of the Rau's IAS Study Circle have been arrested and booked for culpable homicide and other charges.

"Multiple teams have been formed to investigate the entire incident. We have asked the Delhi Fire Services to provide us with a report about the building and the basement, which was being used as a library but mentioned as store room," a senior police officer said.

A police officer said more than 35 people, including students and coaching centre staffers, were trapped on Saturday evening when water started gushing into the basement following heavy rains.

Details From CCTV Footage 

According to sources in the police department, the basement's gate was closed, but due to the high pressure of the rainwater that gushed in, it got damaged.

"We are checking CCTV footage from the area to ascertain the sequence of the events. After scanning the footage, we will identify the people standing close to the institute during the time of the incident and will record their statements," an officer said.

So far, police have recorded the statements of half a dozen students who were trapped in the basement but managed to come out on time. Some of them were rescued by the other students and locals.

A senior official privy to the investigation said the probe so far has indicated two main reasons for the incident -- the civic authority failed to clear the roadside drain before the onset of Monsoon and there was no provision for draining out water at the basement where a library was running illegally.

It is also suspected that the students got trapped in the basement after the biometric system installed at its entrance got jammed when water entered the library.

The officer said police may summon civic officials to know the reason for not clearing the drain on time.

Deputy Commissioner of Police M Harsha Vardhan 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." Two people -- coaching centre owner Abhishek Gupta and coordinator Deshpal Singh -- have been arrested, he said. Both the accused were produced before a court that sent them to judicial custody in Tihar jail for 14 days.

FIR Registered In The Case 

The FIR, registered on the statement of Sub-Inspector Dharmender Kumar Sharma, stated the owner of the coaching centre, who was present there at the time of the incident, failed to produce the documents required to run a library in the basement.

The owner also accepted that there was no drainage system in the basement, it said.

"After receiving a PCR call about flooding in the basement, Assistant Sub Inspector (ASI) Birender was rushed to the spot," the FIR stated.

The ASI saw the area waterlogged with the parking area under three-foot water. He immediately informed the SHO of Rajinder Nagar police station and brought the matter to the notice of the fire department and National Disaster Response Force, it stated.

The bodies of two female students and a male student were retrieved from the basement during the rescue operation.

The FIR stated that a lot of rainwater accumulated on the road as the drainage system was not working properly and it entered the four-storey building's basement which housed the library. With no water outlet provision in the basement, it took more than five hours for the authorities to pump out the water during the rescue operation.

The IAS aspirants who died in the incident have been identified as Shreya Yadav (25) of Ghaziabad in Uttar Pradesh, Tanya Soni (25) from Telangana and Nevin Delvin (24) from Ernakulam in Kerala, police said.

A video making rounds on social media, purportedly showed water gushing inside the library at the basement and some students escaping through the stairs. (With inputs from PTI)