The owner of a private coaching centre in the city’s Old Rajinder Nagar, where three Union Public Service Commission aspirants drowned due to waterlogging in July, “knowingly” used the basement for commercial purposes in violation of the regulations approved by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi, the Central Bureau Investigation has alleged, reported PTI on Sunday.

The three students, enrolled at Rau’s IAS Study Circle, drowned on July 27 when the coaching centre’s basement flooded after heavy rains.

The Central Bureau of Investigation took over the investigation on August 7, after the Delhi High Court transferred the case to the agency, noting that it “may involve corruption by public servants”.

In its recent submission to the court of Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Nishant Garg, the investigating agency said that the municipality gave the occupancy certificate to the building on August 9, 2021 "explicitly" stating that the basement can only be used for a staircase, lift, lobby, toilet, parking, household storage and car lift.

The owner of the coaching institute, Abhishek Gupta, entered into a lease agreement with the co-owners of the building on January 5, 2022. The lease was signed for nine years at Rs 4 lakh rent per month, claimed the investigating agency, according to PTI.

"In contravention of the approved usage of the basement, the lessor and the lessee knowingly agreed to use the basement for the commercial purpose of running the coaching institute," said the Central Bureau of Investigation.

It said that the basement was being used as a library and examination hall with a seating capacity of 80 to 90 persons.

The agency said that around 6.30 pm on July 27, several students were studying in the basement library while it was raining heavily.

"The rainwater entered suddenly in the ground floor due to sudden fall of sliding gates of the main building and subsequently entered into the basement resulting in flooding of the same," it had said earlier.

Given the “seriousness” of the allegations, the agency has requested the special court's approval for the “custodial interrogation” of Gupta and other accused persons: Deshpal Singh, Harvinder Singh, Parvinder Singh, Sarabjeet Singh and Tajinder Singh. All of them are in judicial custody.

On Saturday, the court ordered that all six individuals be held in the Central Bureau of Investigation’s custody until September 4.