On the evening of 27 July 2024, rainwater from a flooded road poured into the basement library of Rau's IAS Study Circle in Old Rajinder Nagar, Delhi, and three civil services aspirants drowned. Students protested for days and began a hunger strike, the civic body sealed about 30 coaching basements, police arrested seven people and the case went to the CBI. In July 2026 the CBI blamed three municipal engineers and cleared two senior officers.
Key takeaways
- Three civil services aspirants drowned on 27 July 2024 when the basement library of Rau's IAS Study Circle in Old Rajinder Nagar, Delhi, flooded after heavy rain.
- Students blockaded Pusa Road on 28 July; some were detained. Ten began a hunger strike on 30 July.
- Police arrested Rau's CEO, its coordinator, four basement co-owners and an SUV driver. The High Court moved the case to the CBI on 2 August.
- In July 2026 the CBI found negligence by three MCD engineers and cleared two senior officers. Delhi's promised coaching law was still pending.
What happened on 27 July
Old Rajinder Nagar is a central Delhi hub for civil services exam coaching. On 27 July 2024, after heavy rain, water from a flooded drain gushed into the basement of Rau's IAS Study Circle, which the institute used as a library PTI via Deccan Herald.
The dead were Shreya Yadav (25) of Uttar Pradesh, Tanya Soni (25) of Telangana and Nevin Delvin of Kerala, whose age PTI gave as 24 and Bar and Bench as 28. Reports also spell his name Navin Dalwin PTI via Deccan Herald Bar and Bench.
IANS said 17 other students were trapped; ThePrint, citing the CBI case, said about 30 IANS ThePrint. Under the occupancy certificate, the basement could be used only for stairs, a lift lobby, toilets, parking or storage Bar and Bench.
The student protests and hunger strike
On Sunday 28 July students they blocked both carriageways of Pusa Road near Karol Bagh Metro Station, chanting "we want justice". After a scuffle, a few were detained and taken away in a bus PTI via Siasat. Paramilitary forces were deployed PTI via Deccan Herald.
We are not terrorists, we are the future of the nation and demanding what is right.
Aman Saxena, civil services aspirant, Old Rajinder Nagar, 28 July 2024 (PTI)
An aspirant from Gwalior said he had complained to the MCD about the basement, with reminders on 15 and 22 July, and got no action PTI via Business Standard.
On 29 July Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena went to the site. As students demanded he come out from behind the barricade, he left without fully addressing them, saying "I am with you" PTI via Deccan Herald.
On 30 July ten aspirants began an indefinite hunger strike, with more than 400 students protesting. Their demands were Rs 5 crore compensation to the victims' families, details of the FIR, a committee report within a fixed time, and a ban on basement libraries and classes in Delhi PTI via Careers360.
How the hunger strike ended was not reported in the sources reviewed.
Timeline
Basement floods
Three aspirants drown. Minister Atishi orders a magisterial inquiry at 11.20 pm PTI via Deccan Herald.
First arrests
Police arrest the institute's owner and coordinator for culpable homicide and death by negligence Scroll.
Five more arrests
Police arrest the four basement co-owners and an SUV driver. The Home Ministry sets up a committee to report in 30 days PTI via Deccan Herald.
High Court questions police
Acting Chief Justice Manmohan asks why police caught a passing driver: "Have you questioned person who has not done the desilting?" LiveLaw.
Driver bailed
Manuj Kathuria is bailed after police say they are not invoking culpable homicide against him Bar and Bench.
Case moved to CBI
The High Court transfers the probe and asks the Central Vigilance Commission to name an officer to oversee it IANS.
Supreme Court steps in
Justices Surya Kant and Ujjal Bhuyan take suo motu cognisance, saying coaching centres "have become death chambers" PTI via Deccan Herald.
Chargesheet admitted
A Delhi court takes cognisance of the CBI chargesheet ThePrint.
The political blame game
In July 2024 the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) ran the Delhi government and, as BJP MP Bansuri Swaraj pointed out in Parliament, had also governed the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) for two years All India Radio. Each side blamed the other.
AAP and the Delhi government
Rajinder Nagar MLA Durgesh Pathak said desilting had been done, said Delhi's drainage system had "collapsed" because the BJP "was in power for 15 years", and asked for an inquiry Scroll. Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj said Chief Secretary Naresh Kumar ignored his letters on desilting and that drains were cleaned "only on paper" PTI via Deccan Herald. Atishi, protesting delays in the inquiry report, asked whether the accused was "well connected with the IAS fraternity" PTI via Deccan Herald.
BJP and the Lieutenant Governor
Delhi BJP chief Virendra Sachdeva said Pathak had ignored repeated pleas from locals to clean the drains before the monsoon Scroll. In the Lok Sabha, New Delhi MP Bansuri Swaraj blamed the "criminal negligence of the Aam Aadmi Party" and asked for a Home Ministry inquiry Tribune. Each party protested outside the other's offices, the BJP demanding the government's resignation PTI via Deccan Herald. LG Saxena said the deaths pointed to "criminal neglect" by agencies and that drainage had "apparently collapsed" Scroll.
Congress's Rahul Gandhi called the deaths a "failure of the system" Scroll. Some protesters asked that the deaths not be politicised PTI via Siasat.
Protesters' and authorities' accounts
Protesters' account
Students said centres across the area ran classes and mock tests in basements, that nothing changed after an earlier coaching fire in Mukherjee Nagar, and that the MCD shared the blame PTI via Siasat. One protester said a few police officers had advised students to go home and prepare for their exams PTI via Deccan Herald.
Police account
DCP (Central) M Harsha Vardhan said police were engaging with students "constructively" and removed them from Pusa Road only after they refused for an hour to clear an arterial road with "many hospitals in the vicinity" PTI via Siasat. Later he said police met students daily PTI via Careers360.
Sealing drive and action against officials
On 29 July the MCD sacked a junior engineer and suspended an assistant engineer Tribune. It sealed 13 coaching basements in Old Rajinder Nagar on 28 July and 29 across the city by 30 July, including Drishti IAS and Forum IAS National Herald. On 31 July Atishi put the figure at 30 sealed, with notices to 200 more PTI via Business Standard.
Documented The magisterial report, submitted on 7 August, called the MCD engineers' failure to seal the basement after an August 2023 misuse notice "deliberate misconduct with malafide intentions". It said the fire service wrongly issued a safety certificate on 9 July 2024, drains had not been desilted for five years, and the owners and management bore "criminal negligence" PTI via ETV Bharat. In December 2024 the LG suspended two fire officers, Ved Pal and Udai Vir Singh Tribune.
Arrests, bail and the CBI case
On 13 September the High Court gave the four co-owners interim bail on condition they deposit Rs 5 crore with the Red Cross, calling their conduct an "act of greed" PTI via Outlook. Gupta and Singh got interim bail on 23 September after 54 days in custody; a Rs 2.5 crore deposit condition on Gupta was later set aside Bar and Bench PTI via Careers360.
Claim · CBI The chargesheet against Gupta, Singh and the four co-owners said the owners rented out the basement for Rs 4 lakh a month knowing water entered it in the rains. It said the main gate was "highly unstable", drain pumps were "choked", and a blocked door trapped students ThePrint. The SUV driver was not named ANI via The News Mill. Claim · Defence Defence counsel called the flood "unprecedented" and blamed civic inaction on drains ThePrint. Taking cognisance on 4 December, Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Nishant Garg said Gupta and Singh "risked the lives of students" ThePrint.
An April 2025 supplementary chargesheet added a consultant, MCD junior engineer Arnav Kumar Datta and the two fire officers ThePrint. On a protest petition by Nevin's father, the court on 12 March 2026 ordered a further probe into MCD officials. The CBI's 8 July 2026 report found negligence by three engineers but cleared Deputy Commissioner Kumar Abhishek and Superintending Engineer Ajay Nagpal PTI via ThePrint. PTI said MCD departmental proceedings against them were under way; News Arena said two could not be chargesheeted without prosecution sanction News Arena.
Rules on coaching centres since
On 20 September 2024 the Supreme Court asked the Union-appointed committee for interim safety measures within four weeks PTI via Outlook. The sources reviewed do not report the coaching law Atishi announced in July 2024 being passed. In June 2026, after a Lucknow coaching fire killed 15, Chief Minister Rekha Gupta gave centres one month to comply, and Education Minister Ashish Sood ordered inspections of all 924 centres and promised a draft law within three months PTI via Business Standard PTI via Careers360.
Outcome
- Detentions: A few protesters on 28 July; no count given.
- Arrests: Seven, all later granted bail. The SUV driver was not chargesheeted.
- Chargesheets: Six accused in 2024; more, including officials, in April 2025.
- Officials: An MCD junior engineer sacked, an assistant engineer suspended, two fire officers suspended.
- Sealing: About 30 coaching basements in the first week.
What is still pending
As of July 2026 the case was before a Rouse Avenue court, and the victim's family lawyer said he would go to the High Court over the CBI's clean chit to the senior officers ThePrint. No trial verdict, and no publication of Delhi's draft coaching law, were found in the sources reviewed.
Questions people ask
What happened at Rau's IAS Study Circle?
On 27 July 2024 its basement library in Old Rajinder Nagar, Delhi, flooded after heavy rain, and three aspirants, Shreya Yadav, Tanya Soni and Nevin Delvin, drowned.
Who was arrested?
Rau's CEO Abhishek Gupta, coordinator Deshpal Singh, four co-owners of the basement and SUV driver Manuj Kathuria. All were later bailed, and the driver was not chargesheeted.
Why did the case go to the CBI?
The Delhi High Court moved it on 2 August 2024 "to ensure the public has no doubt over the investigation" PTI via Deccan Herald.
What did the students demand?
Rs 5 crore compensation to the victims' families, details of the FIR, a time-bound committee report and a ban on basement libraries and classes in Delhi.
Has Delhi passed a law on coaching centres?
Not in the sources reviewed. A law was promised in July 2024 and again in June 2026.
Sources
- Scroll: Three UPSC aspirants drown in flooded basement of Delhi coaching centre, 28 Jul 2024
- PTI via Siasat: Students detained during protest over Delhi coaching centre deaths, 28 Jul 2024
- PTI via Deccan Herald: Security beefed up as students protest in Old Rajinder Nagar, 29 Jul 2024
- PTI via Deccan Herald: L-G meets students protesting aspirants' deaths, 29 Jul 2024
- PTI via Deccan Herald: MHA forms probe committee, 29 Jul 2024
- Tribune: MPs across party lines demand inquiry, 29 Jul 2024
- All India Radio: Case raised in Parliament; five more arrested, 29 Jul 2024
- PTI via Deccan Herald: Chief Secretary didn't respond to letters on desilting, says Bharadwaj, 29 Jul 2024
- PTI via Deccan Herald: DM asked to ascertain cause of flooding, CS to Atishi, 30 Jul 2024
- PTI via Deccan Herald: Protest by IAS aspirants enters day 3, 30 Jul 2024
- PTI via Careers360: Students begin hunger strike to press for demands, 31 Jul 2024
- National Herald: MCD seals 29 basements of coaching institutes, 31 Jul 2024
- PTI via Business Standard: Delhi govt to bring law to regulate coaching centres, says Atishi, 31 Jul 2024
- LiveLaw: Court grants bail to SUV driver, 1 Aug 2024
- Bar and Bench: Delhi court grants bail to passerby car driver, 1 Aug 2024
- IANS: Delhi HC orders CBI probe into coaching centre deaths, 2 Aug 2024
- PTI via Deccan Herald: Supreme Court says coaching centres have become death chambers, 5 Aug 2024
- PTI via Deccan Herald: CBI takes over probe, 7 Aug 2024
- PTI via ETV Bharat: Magistrate's probe report slams MCD, fire dept, 8 Aug 2024
- PTI via Outlook: HC grants interim bail to 4 basement co-owners, 13 Sep 2024
- PTI via Outlook: SC asks panel to submit interim steps in 4 weeks, 20 Sep 2024
- Bar and Bench: Court grants bail to Rau's CEO subject to Rs 2.5 crore deposit, 23 Sep 2024
- ANI via The News Mill: Court to consider chargesheet against CEO, five others, 15 Oct 2024
- ThePrint: As court admits CBI chargesheet against Rau's, aspirants pay price for new safety norms, 9 Dec 2024
- Tribune: L-G suspends 2 fire safety officers, 24 Dec 2024
- PTI via Careers360: Delhi HC sets aside Rs 2.5 crore deposit rider, 30 Jan 2025
- PTI via Careers360: Delhi to inspect every coaching centre, bring new law, 26 Jun 2026
- PTI via Business Standard: Delhi govt to soon introduce law to regulate coaching centres, 27 Jun 2026
- PTI via ThePrint: CBI supplementary final report names 3 MCD engineers, 13 Jul 2026
- ThePrint: CBI clears IAS officer of negligence in Rau's IAS deaths case, 13 Jul 2026
- News Arena: CBI flags MCD negligence in Rau's IAS basement tragedy, 13 Jul 2026