'Prince's rescue was a battle won'

MP Naveen Jindal gives a first-hand account of the rescue operation that saved six-year-old Prince.

My office in Kurukshetra had informed me about Prince the very day he accidentally fell into a pit while playing with his friends. When I saw the whole drama on television, I realised how grave the situation was. Being the father of two children myself, my heart went out to the little child. I also felt responsible for him as he was from my constituency. I reached the village at around 9.30 am on Sunday.

It was a great challenge and at some nervous moments, we almost lost hope. I was constantly monitoring the situation along with the army, which worked round the clock to rescue him. At one point when the army decided to shove in three drums, it looked like the ground would cave in because the area has sandy soil. I suggested that they use a doctor’s stethoscope to locate the child, as he was constantly crying. That actually helped and they figured out where the sound was coming from and started tunneling in the right direction.

A local zila parishad member called Ram Karan went down in the pit to fetch Prince, but when he suddenly disappeared from the CCTV camera, we were afraid that everything had been lost. After a nail-biting wait, when I finally saw Prince emerge wrapped in a white cloth, it was a battle won for all of us — his parents, the people of Kurukshetra and the whole country who had been watching the developments closely.

Later in the night I got a call from my seven-year-old daughter Yashasvani saying she wanted Prince’s autograph and it really touched my heart. I told her that he can’t even read or write. Right then I decided that I would sponsor his education. Prince got a new lease of life on his birthday and that is my little birthday present for him.

(As told to Sanghita Singh)