A massive rescue operation was launched on Tuesday to save an infant who was trapped inside a borewell in a forest area at Laripali village under Rengali police station in Sambalpur district of Odisha.

The infant was saved after a seven-hour-long rescue operation.

A special medical team immediately shifted the infant to the Veer Surendra Sai Institute of Medical Sciences and Research (VIMSAR), Burla, for treatment.

Three JCB machines were engaged to dig a tunnel to reach the infant. Local fire officer Sushant Kumar Rout told The Telegraph: “The members of the Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force (ODRAF) and local fire officials had been engaged in the rescue operation. The infant was trapped around 25 feet inside the borewell. We had put up emergency lights and the rescue operation took place even in dark.”

Rout added: “We had given oxygen inside the borewell so that the infant did not feel suffocated.”

Official sources said while some people were passing through the area, they heard the screams of a baby and found that the sound was
coming from inside the abandoned borewell. Later they informed the local villagers and officials.

Soon after the news spread, the local fire station officials rushed to the spot and started the rescue operation.

Police suspect that someone might have thrown the infant inside the borewell with an ulterior motive in mind.

Director-general of fire service Sudhanshu Sarangi said: “We had despatched a team from Bhubaneswar in an aircraft along with a few machines.”

Managing director (MD) of Orissa State Disaster Mitigation Authority (OSDMA), Dr Gyana Ranjan Das told The Telegraph: “Besides the Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force (ODRAF), one team from National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) had been despatched to the spot to help the rescue operation. Our first priority was to save the infant.”