The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) accused the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) for the deaths of three civil service aspirants who drowned in the waterlogged basement of their coaching facility in Delhi’s Old Rajinder Nagar. Virendra Sachdeva, the Delhi BJP president, termed the occurrence as murder.
“This is not an incident but a murder. Students come to Delhi to make their future, but they have become a victims of corruption. Nobody is answering how the library was established in the basement. There was an incident in Mukherjee Nagar, the Delhi government launched an investigation. What has happened to the investigation? Delhi Minister has still not reached the spot. The locals were asking for cleaning of drainage. Whoever is responsible should be punished. What is the fault of the students?” he stated.
Durgesh Pathak, an AAP MLA, blamed the incident on the BJP.
“The water has receded now but enough is enough… This is a completely criminal activity, strict action should be taken against the officials who are responsible… Desilting (of the drain) was done but still, there should be an inquiry and if someone is responsible, strict action should be taken… Delhi’s drainage system has collapsed and the reason for this is that the BJP was in power for 15 years. We have been here for the last year and are working on the drains, but I do not want to get into any blame game, I want it to be investigated and strict action should be taken against whoever is responsible,” he said.
DCP M Harshavardhan stated that three bodies have been retrieved during the rescue effort. The deceased have been named as Shreya Yadav from Uttar Pradesh, Tanya Soni from Telangana, and Nivin Dalwin from Ernakulam, Kerala. The police have filed a case under sections 105, 106 (1), 115 (2), 290 and 35 of the BNS.
“This case is against the coaching institute and the management of the building and those who were responsible for the maintenance of the drain of that place…so far we have detained the owner and coordinator of that coaching centre…further investigation underway,” he stated.
Swati Maliwal, an AAP MP, requested a compensation of ₹1 crore for the relatives of the deceased.
“This isn’t a natural disaster. It’s a murder. FIR should be registered and strict actions should be taken against those who are involved in this. ₹1 crore compensation should be given to the families of the students who lost their lives. Delhi government Ministers conduct press conferences in AC rooms. Delhi Mayor earlier asked people to enjoy the monsoon. Is this enjoyment? There is anger among students. They have been sitting here since last night but no one yet came to meet them,” stated Swati Maliwal.
She asked that Delhi’s ministries and Mayor Shelly Oberoi apologize to the country.