Local labourer claims his technique helped to pull out the child from the borewell; authorities deny

PATIALA: A local labourer has claimed that it was he who brought out 2-year-old Fatehveer Singh from the 150-feet deep borewell in which he was stuck since Thursday afternoon even as the state authorities maintained that the entire operation was carried out by the experts from National Disaster Response Force.
Gurinder Singh, a local borewell digger whose expertise is in pulling out submersible pumps stuck in borewells, said he used a twisted hook to pierce through the shirt that Fatehveer was wearing.
He said it was a typical hook used to get hold on to the stuck submersible pumps with which he managed to prick Fatehveer’s shirt over his shoulder. "Since his hands were already tied up with ropes by the NDRF over his head, there was enough space between Fatehveer’s skin and shirt over his shoulder. I used an iron rod to remove the sandbag in which Fatehveer was stuck by repeatedly slotting the iron rod into the sand bag and finally managed to remove it. As the sand slipped into the borewell, Fatehveer was freed and he dipped by another 3 inches into the borewell. But the twisted hook and ropes prevented him from going any further and promptly the NDRF team pulled him out,” Gurinder Singh said. He said the hook is designed in such a way if turned towards the right it pierces through the cloth and if turned left, it comes off easily.
Gurinder inserted the twisted hook attached to an iron rod into a long plastic pipe which was downed into the borewell at around 5 am on Tuesday and the child was brought out at 5:15 am. This operation was live telecast on many news channels.
He said he had approached the 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 sit on the sides, but I kept coming here every day and last night I approached cabinet minister Vijayinder Singla, Deputy Commissioner Ghanshyam Thori and Inspector General of Police AS Rai and was finally allowed to use my expertise," he said.
However, Deputy Commissioner Ghanshyam Thori said the entire operation had been carried out by the NDRF team. He said that using the tunnel that had been dug to connect the 36-inch new borewell to the 9-inch borewell in which the child was stuck, the NDRF team removed the sand in which the child was stuck and since his hands were already tied with ropes, the rescuers managed to pull him out.
Speaking to the TOI, the DC said it was one of the toughest operations ever 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 the rescuers by pulling the ropes and executing some digging, ultimately it was an NDRF operation. “We also had Army on standby, but since NDRF is a specialised force, the Army played the supporting role in the entire operation,” he said
Meanwhile, Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh on Tuesday morning tweeted "Very sad to hear about the tragic death of young Fatehveer. I pray that Waheguru grants his family the strength to bear this huge loss. Have sought reports from all DCs regarding any open bore well so that such terrible accidents can be prevented in the future."
His tweet was not received well by the people, who raised questions and blamed the authorities for the delay in the operation.