No sign of human in borehole, claims Asaduzzaman; Police pick up trapped boy’s father
After several abortive attempts and sending a borehole camera inside 254 feet into a 600 feet abandoned water-pump well, the state minister for home, Asaduzzaman Khan, at about 2:45am on Saturday declared that there was no boy trapped into the borehole and it might be a rumour. The rescue operation, however, was not officially suspended and the fire service and civil defence director general said that they would pull out the debris found in the borehole through the camera footage and finally reach a conclusion. The three-and-a-half year old boy, Zihad, reportedly fell into the narrow well at about 3:00pm while playing with other boys. Shahjanpur police picked up Zihad’s father Nasir Uddin, is a peon at Mothijheel Ideal School and College, after Asaduzzman’s announcement, said a boy, who received the phone as
New Age tried to contact Nasir after Asaduzzaman termed the incident a rumour. The boy identified him as Nasir’s nephew. Shajahanpur police duty officer Shyamal Devnath said that they picked up Nasir for interrogation. Rescuers sent the borehole camera of Dhaka WASA into the borehole at about 2:15am to know about the latest situation of a three-and-a-half year old boy trapped into it as the rescuers including fire service people failed to rescue the boy. Fire service people struggled to rescue a minor boy who reportedly fell into a 600 feet abandoned water-pump well at Shahjahanpur railway colony. Asaduzzaman, at a briefing at about 3:00m, however, claimed that it might be a rumour. Asked whether any steps would be taken against the people responsible for keeping the abandoned borehole open , the state minister said that the borehole belonged to the railway and the ministry concerned might take such steps.
The minister said that the camera found no sign of human being in the borehole. He also said that as the camera could find a lizard and rope, it must have found any sign of human being if that had been there. Three units of the fire service and civil defence led by its director (operation) Major ATM Shakil Newaz were continuing the rescue operation till late into the night. ‘Until now he is alive but a little tired,’ Major Shakil said about the boy at about 10:05pm. An ambulance and physicians were kept standby for post-rescue arrangements. The rescuers tried to pull the boy up with the help of ropes, but the attempts failed repeatedly, forcing them to use a piece of wood tied to ropes and a gunny-sack with ropes to lift the boy. They also started pulling out the two-inch-radius pipe to make more space. A girl said she heard someone crying inside the abandoned well when she went there to collect a shuttlecock as they were playing badminton in the open space. ‘He was screaming “Mom save me”,’ added the girl. She alleged that some construction workers did not pay heed although she informed them about the well. ‘They smiled and left the place,’ the girl said.
Locals tried to rescue the boy before calling the fire service. The fire service provided oxygen for the boy so that he could survive in the well, which once was used by railway for pumping out water. Mafizur Rahman, additional chief engineer of Bangladesh Railway (east), said that the deep water-pump well was declared abandoned at least three years ago and construction of another tube well pump was underway nearby. According to the records, the official said, the water-pump well was 480 feet deep with a radius of 16 inches during installation. The authorities suspended railways senior sub-assistant engineer Jahangir Alam last night and blacklisted a construction firm.
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