Man found dead in Delhi borewell had cried for help before passing out

The man who was pulled out dead from inside a borewell at a sewage treatment plant in west Delhi’s Vikaspuri cried for help before he fell unconscious on Sunday, officials aware of the matter said on Monday.

A field assistant of the sewage treatment plant was the first person to hear his cries and spot him at the bottom of the borewell, but failed to help him as he did not have the any resources, they added.

Deputy commissioner of police (west) Vichitra Veer said that a case under section 304A (causing death by negligence) of the Indian Penal Code was registered. “Efforts are still on to ascertain the identity of the man,” he said on Monday.

The man was found dead at the bottom of an abandoned 40-foot deep borewell inside a room at a Delhi Jal Board (DJB) sewage treatment plant at Keshopur in west Delhi in the early hours of Sunday. The body was pulled out after a 14-hour operation by the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), officials said.

An investigator aware of the matter said, “The field assistant of the sewage treatment plant was the first to hear a person crying for help. He realised that the sound was coming from the borewell room. When he went inside, he heard the man asking for help. However, he couldn’t do much as he did not have the resources. He then informed his seniors, who called the police and fire brigade,” the officer said.

The police control room and fire department received a call around 1am.

A government official on Sunday said that so far, police probe found that the room was not locked from outside. “The room’s condition was dilapidated. We suspect that the man entered the plant and then got inside the room in order to hide. It is suspected that he entered the borewell without realising its depth,” the officer said.

The first information report in the case was registered based on the daily diary entry by a police official. According to the document, the caller said that a thief was running after stealing something and fell into the borewell.

The fire department officials first tried to rescue the man, not knowing whether he was dead or alive at the time, but he was unresponsive. Around 4.30am, the NDRF personnel reached the spot and after a 14 hours, pulled the man out using ropes. The operation concluded at 2.52 pm. He was then rushed to Deen Dayal Upadhyay Hospital, where he was declared dead on arrival, officials said.