- Wednesday, March 12, 2025
Several purported video clips show the moments when the Rau IAS Study Coaching Centre got flooded and students desperately tried to save themselves
By: Shajil Kumar
THREE civil service aspirants died when the basement library of a coaching centre in New Delhi got flooded in a flash following heavy rains and a drain burst near the building on Saturday evening.
According to a purported video of the incident, the ripple effect of a fast-moving four-wheeler on the flooded road appears to break the gates of the Delhi coaching centre which got inundated in no time and the students got trapped.
Shreya Yadav of Ambedkar Nagar in Uttar Pradesh, Tanya Soni from Telangana, and Navin Dalwin from Ernakulam in Kerala died after the basement of Rau’s IAS Study Circle was flooded following heavy rain in central Delhi’s Old Rajinder Nagar area on the fateful evening, officials said.
Several purported video clips, which have gone viral on social media, show the moments when the Rau IAS Study Coaching Centre got flooded and students desperately tried to save themselves from getting drowned.
One such clip shows the road in front of the coaching centre flooded with rainwater and some students across the road are huddled together at a vantage point. There is chaotic scene outside the building, with bikes and food carts seen submerged in the floodwater on the road.
At that moment, a four-wheeler is seen moving fast on the flooded road. The gates of the coaching centre break due to the ripple effect and the flood water gushes in the basement. The students standing across the road scream in desperation at the potential havoc.
The water rushes in and quickly fills the basement, leaving little time for those inside to react.
Another video clip shows some people standing on the corner of the stairs in the flooded basement. They are seen helping each other to reach a safe place amid the rising water.
In the third video, a group of people is seen standing at an elevated place. They are seen rescuing a man to safety.
Authorities said they received a call about waterlogging from the Rau’s IAS Study Centre around 7 pm on Saturday.
An officer of the Delhi Fire Services (DFS) said, “We received a call at 7 pm regarding a basement of a coaching institute being flooded. The caller told us there is a possibility that some people were trapped.”
Preliminary investigations revealed that the basement housed a library where several students were present when water suddenly started flooding the area.
Meanwhile, police said the owner and the coordinator of the coaching centre where the deaths occurred were arrested on Sunday.
Promising lives lost
Of the three civil service aspirants who drowned in the flooded basement of a coaching centre, one each was a student of the Jawaharlal Nehru University and Delhi University. The third was a son of a retired police officer in Kerala.
Tanya Soni, 21, who had come from Telangana, was a native of Bihar’s Aurangabad and a student of Delhi University, a friend, who did not wish to be named, said.
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.
According to the friend, Tanya’s her father works in a mining company in Telangana. She had two younger siblings, a brother and a sister.
On Sunday, her parents took her body to Aurangabad for the last rites after a post mortem at RML hospital, he said.
Nevin Dalwin, 29, from Ernakulam in Kerala, was pursuing PhD in Arts and Aesthetics from JNU.
He had joined the coaching institute eight months ago but had been staying in a rented accommodation near the university in Vasant Kunj area.
According to police, his parents in Kerala have been informed about the tragedy. Nevin’s father had retired as a Deputy Superintendent of Police in Kerala and his mother is a professor. Nevin had a sister too.
His friend called him a hardworking student. He had come to Delhi after completing his MA in 2017.
According to police, Nevin was not a full time student of the centre and would often come to library for books.
His body will be handed over to them after the post mortem on Monday, a police officer said.
The third student, Shreya Yadav, was a native of Uttar Pradesh’s Ambedkar Nagar.
She earlier used to stay at a PG Hostel in west Delhi’s Shadipur area and had taken admission to the coaching institute two months ago.
Shreya had done her BSc in agriculture from a college in UP.
Dharmender Yadav, an uncle of hers, said Shreya had moved to Delhi in April and joined the coaching institute in May.
Her father runs a dairy shop in UP and her two younger brothers are in school, Yadav, who lives in Ghaziabad, said.
Yadav was the one who came to the RML Hospital and took her body back home after autopsy.
Owner, coordinator in custody
A court in Delhi on Sunday sent to 14-day judicial custody the owner and coordinator of Rau’s IAS Study Circle in Old Rajinder Nagar where three civil services aspirants died after flooding in its basement.
The coaching centre owner Abhishek Gupta and coordinator Deshpal Singh were produced before a magisterial court, which remanded the duo in 14 days judicial custody.
Absence of drainage system and safety measures, and use of basement for commercial activities in violation of norms led to the deaths, officials and students said on Sunday.
The Delhi Police on Sunday arrested the owner and the coordinator of Rau’s IAS Study Circle and booked them for culpable homicide and other charges. (PTI)
