'I'm being targeted, everyone wants scapegoat': Drishti IAS founder amid row over students' deaths

Vikas Divyakirti's statement came a day after the Municipal Corporation of Delhi sealed the basement of his institute amid the ongoing crackdown on 'illegal' coaching institutes in the national capital.

Amid ongoing investigations into the deaths of three UPSC aspirants who drowned in a flooded basement at Rau’s IAS Study Circle, Vikas Divyakirti, owner of the Drishti IAS coaching institute, has claimed that he is being targeted as a “scapegoat”.

In an interview with news agency ANI on Tuesday, Divyakirti said, “I am getting targeted because in such cases, everyone wants a scapegoat. It makes things easier for the administration, they think they are safe, let that one person suffer, and even the society feels that they have got the accused.”  The Drishti IAS owner also said that he, along with a few students and owners of other institutes, met Delhi Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena.

Earlier, Divyakirti issued his first statement after the basement of his institute was sealed by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi amid crackdown on coaching institutions in the national capital. He expressed his sympathies to the families of Shreya Yadav, Tanya Soni, and Nevin Dalwin, the three victims of the basement tragedy, in a social media message posted by Drishti IAS on its official X account.

"We offer our sincere sympathies for the three kids' tragic and premature deaths. We humbly honour the three candidates and ask God to grant their families the strength to deal with this unforgivable loss," the message stated. Divyakirti also stated that the student outrage was entirely justified and demanded that efforts be directed appropriately and that full regulations for coaching centres be put into place.

"Students' rage is entirely justified. It would be beneficial if the government established regulations for coaching facilities and this rage was directed in the correct directions. In this sense, we are prepared to support the administration," he declared. The educator also praised the Delhi Municipal Corporation's recent spate of considerable action and said that Drishti IAS would shortly release a thorough review of the situation.