A nine-year-old boy reportedly died on Wednesday after compressed air was pumped through his rectum using a tyre inflator machine at an auto-rickshaw garage at Palash upazila in Narsingdi.

The incident occurred at about 10:00am on Wednesday at a battery-run auto-rickshaw garage in the Gajaria Bazar area, the police said.

The deceased, Ramim Mia, 9, a third-grade student at a local school, was the son of Ripon Mia of Gajaria Charkarardi village in the upazila.

Palash police officer-in-charge Shahed Al-Mamun said that the accused absconded since the incident. ‘A drive is under way to arrest them quickly. A case is under process on behalf of the family,’ he added.

Quoting the victim’s family members, OC Shahed said that Ramim had gone to Gajaria Bazar market to spend time at his grandfather Amzad Hossain’s shop of corrugated tin sheets.

The child’s father also runs a sanitary goods business there, according to the family.

At one stage, the child went to Faisal Mia’s garage where Sabuj Mia, 34, a rickshaw driver, allegedly pumped compressed air into the child’s body using a tyre inflator machine as part of a ‘prank’, according to the victim’s father Ripon Mia.

‘Ramim fell ill as his abdomen swelled severely and he screamed,’ said his father.

People around the garage rushed and took him to Narsingdi District Hospital, he said. After primary treatment, doctors referred the child to Dhaka for advanced care.

Ramim later died around 5:15pm while undergoing treatment at a private hospital in the capital.