Basement Deaths: Delhi Court Reserves Order on Bail Plea of SUV Driver

New Delhi: A court here Tuesday reserved its order on the bail plea of an SUV driver who was arrested in connection with the flooding of a coaching centre's basement in the Old Rajinder Nagar area which led to the death of three civil services aspirants.

Judicial Magistrate Vinod Kumar reserved the order on the bail plea of Manuj Kathuria.

Kathuria has been accused of driving his Force Gurkha car through the street that was flooded by rainwater, causing the water to swell and breach the gates of the three-storey building and inundate the basement.

Kathuria's counsel sought his bail, saying he did not have the knowledge what's going to happen, or intention to cause the incident.

Additional Public Prosecutor Atul Srivastava opposed the bail plea, saying Kathuria was not guilty of "contributory negligence," but he aggravated the incident.

The APP played in court a few videos taken from Kathuria's social media accounts, showing him driving the same SUV, and said, "I am sorry to use this term. But he is mastikhor aur masti mein inhone ye sab kar diya... In having fun he caused the incident." The public prosecutor said the police investigation is still in a nascent stage and the accused, if let out on bail, may influence witnesses.

Srivastava argued, “The Delhi Police is arresting people not related to the case; how can I be blamed for the incident?” 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Republic staff and has been published from a syndicated feed)