Rajinder Nagar tragedy: Questions raised over official death toll, police dismisses 'cover-up' allegations

Rajinder Nagar Tragedy

“Saturday night’s incident has shaken me, perhaps sending out a reminder that a dream that endangers lives is not worth pursuing,” Anoop Singh said, rather despondently, as the 25-year-old civil services aspirant struggled to come to terms with the tragedy that claimed three young lives in Delhi.

The Varanasi resident's words on Tuesday were in stark contrast to the usually upbeat mood among civil service aspirants of central Delhi’s Old Rajinder Nagar, a hub for coaching institutions promising unmatched guidance to clear the prestigious civil services examination.

Numerous coaching centres that dot the lane leading from Pusa Road to Old Rajinder Nagar, wore a desolate look as Delhi Police and Rapid Action Force personnel remained vigilant to ward off periodic bouts of aggressive sloganeering among the protesting students and of media jostling for every inch to capture the premises of Rau’s IAS Study Circle.

The three civil services aspirants - Tania Soni and Shreya Yadav, both aged 25, and Navin Delvin, 28 - died after a library illegally set up in the basement of Rau's IAS Study Circle was flooded when a drain went burst following heavy rain.  So far, Delhi Police have arrested seven people in connection with the incident.

Questioning the official tally

Tanya Jaleel, 29-year-old PhD scholar, who successfully cleared her third prelims (the first stage of the civil services exam), held up a copy of Mahatma Gandhi’s My Experiments with Truth, and questioned the official numbers pertaining to the number of students who lost their lives on Saturday.

“The figures cited by the management and the administration can’t be true. There were more than 35-40 students who were inside the library in the basement when water gushed into the room. Eight ambulances were deployed on the night of July 27. The numbers just don’t add up. Eight ambulances to carry three bodies?" asked Jaleel as tears rolled down her face.

When probed further on the death count, she said that many students speak to their families once in 10-15 days as they are busy with the preparation. “As many students come from remote areas, information dissemination is also a concern. Is it impossible to ascertain the actual number of students who succumbed on Saturday. But, according to students and locals privy to the developments, the officials are under-reporting the death count."

A Rapid Action Force personnel implicitly concurred that the number of lives lost on Saturday is way more than the reported figure of three. The officer refused to be identified.

When asked about the 'alleged' discrepancy in the death toll, M Harsha Vardhan, DCP Central, dismissed the version cited by students and said that rumours surrounding the tally are floating around. The police is consistent with its figure-- and that is three.

Pappu Yadav, an independent MP from Bihar’s Purnia, echoed similar concern when he claimed that 10-12 people were missing after the tragic incident on Saturday. “Three people have not died there, there is a list of six people missing, I believe 10-12 people are not accounted for. An attempt to hide is underway,” Yadav told news agency PTI.

Student bodies vie for political space

Recalling how the hunger strike and demonstration has been coopted by student leaders from Delhi University and JNU, Ritik Mishra, 22, a student of Vajiram & Ravi coaching centre said there is a clear attempt to dilute the ongoing demonstration.

“The aspirants have been leading a peaceful protest since July 28 morning. We remain steadfast in our core demands. With the politically-motivated participation of student groups from Delhi University and Jawaharlal University, protesting aspirants are being portrayed as individuals with vested interests. The truth is very different from what is being portrayed. Various student groups are trying to co-opt our demonstration for their own political benefits. The authorities must recognise such groups and kickstart a constrictive dialogue with aspirants who are demanding their legitimate rights,” Mishra said.

When dreams take a backstage

Atul Kumar Nayak, a 27-year-old native of Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh, recalled his first few days in Rajinder Nagar. “The hype regarding the coaching institutes in Delhi are unmatched. For a student in tier 2-tier 3 city, Delhi appears to be an ideal place for civil services preparation. But the living conditions, scramble for basic amenities and the exorbitant pricing is a real damper for students who are not financially strong.

Students often wipe out their parents’ life's savings to pursue their IAS dream. Looking back on Saturday’s tragedy, Nayak said that no dream can be bigger than a human life. “The kind of risks student undertake during their preparation is just not worth it. Unsafe accommodations, cramped classrooms, dangling electric wires, nexus between brokers and coaching mafia exacerbates the pain students go through in their youth. After witnessing these deaths so closely, I feel that the IAS Dream is just not worth pursuing,” he said.

Outlining their core demands

Ten aspirants have started an indefinite hunger strike till their main demands, including compensation of Rs five crore to the victims' families, are met. The main demands are compensation of Rs five crore to the victims' families, all the details of the FIR filed in the incident, the committee should report within a specified time frame and prohibition on using basements for libraries and classes across Delhi.