Rajesh Vishwas, a food inspector in Chhattisgarh, India, dropped his phone in the Kherkatta Dam while taking a selfie.

After a failed attempt to recover the phone via divers, Vishwas had the millions of litres of water pumped out over a three-day period, the BBC reports.

The draining was only stopped after an official from the state’s water resource department intervened on foot of a complaint.

The Samsung phone worth around 100,000 rupees (€1,130) was eventually recovered, but no longer in working condition.

Vishwas has been suspended pending an inquiry to establish whether he misused his position.