Court sends six accused in death of IAS aspirants in Delhi to 4-day CBI custody

A city court on Saturday sent to four days’ Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) custody the six people arrested in connection to the deaths of three IAS aspirants due to drowning at a coaching centre in Old Rajender Nagar in July.
“Accused Abhishek Gupta, Deshpal Singh, Tajinder Singh, Harvinder Singh, Sarabjit Singh and Parvinder Singh are remanded to police custody for 04 days. Be produced on 04.09.2024”, said additional chief judicial magistrate Nishant Garg.
The six were arrested last month by Delhi Police. Gupta, 41, is the CEO of Rau’s IAS Study Circle, the basement of which was flooded following heavy rains on July 27, leading to the drowning of the three students. He was arrested on Juy 28 along with Deshpal Singh, 60, who worked as the centre’s coordinator.
The remaining four, Tajinder Singh, Harvinder Singh, Sarabjit Singh and Parvinder Singh, were apprehended on the evening of July 28. The four are relatives and co-owners of the basement.
All the six arrested accused have been in judicial custody since their arrest.
On Saturday, CBI moved an application seeking four days’ custody of the accused, submitting that in order to move the investigation further, custodial interrogation of all the accused was required.
CBI, which was handed over the case on August 2, has alleged that investigation has revealed that the basement of the building in which the coaching centre was being operated was being illegally used as a library cum exam hall. This despite the occupancy certificate issued to the building explicitly stated that the basement was to be used for the specific purpose of parking use, household storage and car lift, the agency has said.
In its application, the agency also pointed out that the building was being used to run a coaching centre without a fire safety certificate and a show cause notice was sent to the owner/occupier in the past for violation of Master Plan Delhi, 2021, and for misuse of property. Gupta had later applied for a fire safety certificate, which was issued by the Delhi Fire Services on July 9, 2024.
The remand application was opposed by the defence counsels of all the six accused, stating that no specific ground or justification has been given by CBI for taking them into police custody.
Advocate Kaushal Jeet Kait, the counsel for the four joint owners of the basement, also submitted before the court that Sarabjit Singh had recently undergone surgery and is on medication which should be allowed during police custody.
The court, after hearing the submissions, noted that custodial interrogation is necessary to aid the investigation and is one of the effective modes of investigation into an alleged crime.
“Considering the submissions in the application and in particular the scope of investigation in terms of the order dated 02.08.2024 of the Hon’ble High Court of Delhi, custodial interrogation of the accused persons would be necessary for the purpose of investigation and for ascertaining the role played by various individuals who might have been involved in corrupt practices or criminal negligence”, the court said.
The court also directed that the accused would be medically examined, and allowed the counsels of the accused persons to meet them for 30 minutes daily.
Tanya Soni, 21, Shreya Yadav, 25, and Nevin Delvin, 29, drowned on July 27 when the basement library of the coaching centre during heavy rainfall.
Delhi Police, who was initially conducting the probe in the case, had also arrested Manuj Kathuria, 49, for allegedly driving his SUV through a flooded road in Old Rajinder Nagar that caused the water to swell and gush into the basement of the coaching centre. He was granted bail in the case last month.