Jihad Ill-fated child Jihad, who had slipped into a water pipe at Shahjahanpur in the capital on Friday, was rescued after 23 hours of desperate efforts but was dead. Shortly after the four-year-old boy fell into the uncovered pipe near his house on Friday afternoon, the fire brigade along with the others concerned carried out a massive rescue operation overnight. The Fire Service and Civil Defence suspended the operation on Saturday afternoon, but within 30 minutes volunteers pulled Jihad out of the 600-foot-deep pipe in an unconscious state. They rushed him to Dhaka Medical College Hospital where doctors declared him dead. The body was kept at the hospital morgue for autopsy. Soon after the rescue, agitated local people gathered the spot and carried out massive vandalism in the area. They demanded the resignation of the state minister for the home affairs. The family members of Jihad sought justice from the prime minister for the negligence of the authorities concerned to rescue Jihad. A volunteer team who also volunteered in the Rana Plaza tragedy in Savar last year made an instrument (locally known as catcher) to rescue Jihad. The instrument was made with a net, a close-circuit camera, a torch, a tri-stand and a cleat tied to a 600-foot-long rope. The volunteer team was led by Faruk. Other members are Abu Bakkar Siddique, Abdul Kader Chowdhury and Abdul Majid who belong to a volunteer organisation, Icon. The volunteers had the chance to use it only after the fire service declared suspension of the operation, and found Jihad underneath a floating object like a cork sheet. They sent the catcher down the well shaft and hooked Jihad’s body into the net. Then they brought him out with the net to the cleat. The entire operation was carried out with the help of the CC Camera. Bringing the boy out of the pipe in an unconscious condition, Jihad was rushed to DMCH where a medical team formed for him declared him dead. “We scrutinised Jihad’s health condition for at least 20 minutes and also did an electrocardiogram test and confirmed that he was dead. Jihad might be died several hours before he was taken to DMCH,” Dr KM Niaz Morshed told journalists in the hospital. DMCH sources said that doctors found some scratch on Jihad’s body, injury sign on the head and water on the stomach. After the autopsy report, the reason for his death could be known, doctors said. Half an hour before he was found, Fire Service Director-General Brigadier General Ali Ahmed Khan announced a halt to the 23-hour rescue operation around 2:30pm on Saturday. He made the announcement at a press conference at the accident site. He said that they found no proof of his presence in the pipe. But minutes after the announcement, locals pulled him up with the help of traditional methods. The volunteers claimed that it was possible to rescue the minor boy on Friday night, but we are not allowed to do that. After the rescue, interestingly the Fire Service and Civil Defence Director- General claimed that they rescued the boy. About 2:45am on Saturday, State Minister for Home Affairs Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal, who was present at the spot, expressed doubt whether the child fell down in the pipe. After the announcement, the Fire Service suspended the rescue operation. At about 8:00am on Saturday, they resumed the operation. At 10:00am Saturday, Fire Service Deputy Assistant Director Md Halim told journalists at the accident spot, “There is no victim down below... We have nothing more to do here.” On Friday night, Shahjahanpur police had taken Jihad’s father Nasiruddin, a security guard of the Motijheel School and College, into custody. His family alleged that police confined Nasiruddin. Later, police released Nasiruddin soon after Jihad was rescued from the pipe. As the news spread that Jihad was no more, several hundred people started a demonstration against the negligence of the administration. At one stage, they vandalised some tin-shade establishment of the water pump in the area. They chanted slogan, “Why our brother Jihad died?” They also said Jihad could have been rescued alive if the rescue operations were conducted sincerely. Later, police tried to clam the situation, but agitated mob threw brick chips at police. To maintain law and order, police charge batons and disperse the protesters. Later, the top of the pipe was sealed off with an iron plate. Later, at a press conference, Nasiruddin said, “Railway officers are responsible for my son’s death. I want justice.” He posed a question to top railway officials, “Why the top of the pipe was open for two or three years? They could seal the pipe easily.” While visited his house after his rescue, Khadiza Akther, mother of Jihad, was lamenting the death of her son. A pall of sorrow descended on the area and the air was heavy with tears. Khadiza told journalists, “Some persons, including the state minister delivered various types of speeches to the media over rescuing my son. I am seeking their punishment.” “If they searched properly with taking too much, I would get my son on Friday,” she added. She also alleged, “Police confined my husband and brother to the police station on Friday night. Police charged them whether they hid the boy elsewhere.” Additional law enforces were deployed in the area to avert any untoward situation. During the rescue operation, people from all over the country prayed for the child so that he could be rescued alive. But all their hopes were shattered when doctors declared him dead. Jihad is the youngest of his parents’ three children. His mother was in a state of shock while neighbours tried to calm down her. His father lives at house No. 41 in the railway colony. A neighbour informed them that Jihad fell into the pit while playing with his friends around 3:30pm on Friday, his father told reporters at night. Although a housewife, Rahela, and a youth, Arif, said the same thing, no one had claimed having seen Jihad fallen into the pipe near his house at Shahjahanpur Railway Colony.
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