Delhi Coaching Centre Deaths: Court Sends 6 Accused To CBI Custody For 4 Days

A Delhi court on Saturday sent all six accused to four days' custody of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in a case pertaining to the death of three civil services aspirants by drowning in the basement of an Old Rajinder Nagar coaching center. This development took place a month after they were arrested by Delhi police.

On July 27, three civil services aspirants- Shreya Yadav, Tanya Soni, and Nevin Dalvin- were killed after flooding in the base of the Rau’s IAS Study Circle on July 27 evening. Delhi High Court earlier transferred the probe to CBI in light of concerns regarding the quality of the initial investigation.

In its recent application, the central probe agency alleged that the basement of the building was being used for the purpose of running a library-cum-exam hall where students used to sit for long hours for self-study and taking exams, “despite the occupancy certificate issued to the building explicitly stated that the basement was to be used for the specific purpose such as parking, household storage, and car lift”.

Coaching center death: What did the court say?

The court order came as a response to an application that was moved by the CBI seeking four days of custody of the accused citing the need for further custodial interrogation to move the investigation forward.

Additional chief judicial magistrate Nishant Garg said, "Accused Abhishek Gupta, Deshpal Singh, Tajinder Singh, Harvinder Singh, Sarabjit Singh, and Parvinder Singh are remanded to police custody for four days."

The court further directed that the accused persons would be medically examined as per rules and allowed the counsels of the accused persons to meet them for 30 minutes daily

Delhi coaching center death: The investigation so far

On July 28, Abhishek Gupta and Deshpal Singh were first arrested produced before the court, and subsequently sent to judicial custody. The remaining four accused were apprehended on the same evening.

Before the handover to CBI, Delhi police were conducting the probe and had arrested Manuj Kathuria, the driver of the SUV who allegedly eas behind the crashing of the coaching center gate which led to flooding, and the joint owners of the basement.