Local says used ‘twisted hook’ to pull child out in 15 mins

PATIALA: While the state authorities are maintaining that NDRF experts carried out the entire operation to bring out two-year-old Fatehveer Singh from a 150-foot-deep borewell in which he was stuck since Thursday afternoon in Sangrur, a local labourer said he brought out the child in less than 15 minutes on Tuesday morning.
Gurinder Singh, a borewell digger from Sangrur whose expertise is in pulling out submersible pumps stuck in borewells, said he used a “twisted hook” to pierce Fatehveer’s shirt.“Since his hands were over his head and tied with ropes, there was enough space between Fatehveer’s skin and his shirt. I used an iron rod to remove the sandbag in which Fatehveer was stuck by repeatedly hitting it. As the bag slipped into the borewell, Fatehveer was freed and he dipped by a few inches into the borewell. But, the hook and the ropes prevented him from going any further and the NDRF team pulled him out,” Gurinder said.
However, deputy commissioner Ghanshyam Thori refuted this claim. He said the rescue team removed the sand in the borewell by using the 36-inch new borewell which had been dug parallel to it. “Since Fatehveer’s hands were already tied, rescuers pulled him out,” he said.
Gurinder said the twisted hook attached to an iron rod was downed into the borewell around 5am on Tuesday and the child was brought out around 5.15 am. This operation was telecast live on many news channels.
Gurinder said he had approached local authorities the day Fatehveer had fallen into the borewell and requested them to give him an hour to bring out the child. But he was denied permission. “I was asked to keep aside, but I kept coming here every day. Last night, I approached cabinet minister Vijayinder Singla, deputy commissioner Ghanshyam Thori and inspector general of police A S Rai, and was allowed to use my expertise,” he said.
The DC said the operation was one of the toughest undertaken by the NDRF as the child had slipped to a depth of 125 feet. He said though some locals and volunteers of Green Force (Dera Sacha Sauda) assisted rescuers by pulling ropes and executing some digging, it was an NDRF operation, ultimately. “We also had Army on standby. But, since NDRF is a specialised force, the Army played a supporting role,” he said.