The teen stuck in the toilet in Kurla.

MUMBAI: Answering the call of nature with a cellphone stuck to his ear proved costly for a Kurla youth on Monday. The 19-year-old spent five hours with a hand stuck in the Indian-style lavatory of his home after the phone slipped and fell and he plunged in his right hand to retrieve it around 8am. His hand wouldn't come out, however much he or his family tried, and finally the fire brigade rescued him around 1pm in an operation that required the knocking down of the toilet walls.

A steel kada that college student Rohit Rajbhar was wearing seemed to be the culprit, said the fire brigade.

Rajbhar's brother-in-law, Raj Bharadwaj, said the youth's father had given him the Android mobile he was trying to save. The family had the first go at trying to pull Rajbhar out but failed.

"On Monday morning, the mobile fell inside the toilet and when he tried retrieving it, his hand got stuck and we were not able to pull it out despite trying for a very long time," he said.

Finally, around 10am, the fire brigade team was called. On arrival, the team realised it would not be possible to get the youth's hand out without demolishing the walls around the Indian toilet.

R B Ghadge, assistant divisional fire officer, said the piping in the toilet area was complicated, so they had to be very careful.

"The boy was wearing a steel kada, which also got stuck in the toilet," Ghadge said. "After trying for a long time, we finally managed to remove him. The boy was conscious all through the rescue operations and did not panic. We kept telling him to remain calm, as otherwise it could have hampered our operations. Finally, around 1 pm we managed to get his hand out."

The youth's hand had some swelling and the fire brigade recommended he see a doctor.

Rajbhar's brother-in-law said the doctors told them that there was no reason to worry and his hand was not injured much. "He had come to Mumbai from Azamgarh earlier this month and planned to return on July 19," Bharadwaj said.



In Video: Trying to retrieve phone, Mumbai teen’s hand gets stuck in toilet