The five-year-old Prince had fallen into the open well at about 6 pm on Friday accidentally while playing with his friends.
The accident took place in Shahabad town near the Hindu pilgrim centre of Kurukshetra in Haryana. This story had a happy ending on Sunday evening when he was dramatically rescued by army and firemen from Mumbai. The joyous moment of his return coincided with his fifth birthday celebration on Sunday. The residents had held a 24-hour prayer service for the safe
rescue of Prince. Prayers were also held for the child in Allahabad at a school for visually impaired students. There was a feeling as though the entire nation was praying for his safety. The glorious moment had arrived and the onlookers were jubilant and hugged each other. His parents Ram Chander and Karamjit were overjoyed at the safe return of their son. He was immediately taken in an ambulance to a local hospital for a check-up. The rescue
operation, led by the 66 Engineers regiment of the Ambala Cantonment-based 2 Corps of Indian Army had started at 3 p.m. on Saturday at Haldaheri village near Shahabad town of Kurukshetra district. The news had spread like wildfire and crowds of people gathered to witness the occasion. The police had to push back the crowd as their presence was hampering the rescue efforts. The villagers also did their bit and helped the army personnel by digging a parallel tunnel inch by inch. Two cranes were in operation since 3 pm on Saturday. The team of fire-fighting experts, who were flown in an Indian Air Force aircraft from Mumbai to help in the rescue operation, reached the site on Sunday afternoon. Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, some of his cabinet ministers, Kurukshetra MP Naveen Jindal and top officials of the army, police and district administration were present at the spot since Sunday morning to monitor the activity. The doctors who had monitored the child with the help of a closed-circuit television camera (CCTV) lowered into the well on Saturday evening reported that the child appeared fine despite the fall. The fact that he had milk and chocolate that was lowered into the pit had given the doctors hope that he would survive. The CCTV cameras captured the endurance nature of the boy as he fought off an insect that tried to come close to him when some food was lowered to the pit.