Bimla Lohar with her baby boy. Picture by Bhola Prasad

Jamshedpur, June 7: A childless Bokaro trader and a private security guard were arrested today for stealing a baby boy from MGM Medical College and Hospital.

Police suspect the involvement of other hospital employees and will quiz the duo — Uday Singh and Anil Dubey — for details. A nurse, Kumari

Mani, has also been detained for interrogation.

It was around 2am this morning that Bimla Lohar at the medical ward of the hospital noticed that her baby boy was missing. Her screams alerted hospital attendants and other patients. The Sakchi police were informed.

Officers on the basis of suspicion grilled hospital security guard Dubey who succumbed under pressure. He told the police about a deal he had struck with a trader. The police summoned Singh, who deals in asbestos in Bokaro. At 9.30am, Singh turned up at the Sakchi police station with the month-old child.

He told the police that he was childless even 15 years after marriage and wanted a baby desperately. He claimed he came across Dubey who promised to sell him a baby boy. “I did not know that the baby was stolen when Dubey gave him to me this morning,” he said. The police are verifying his claims.

“My family members were blaming my wife Anita for not conceiving. So, I decided to get a child from another city,” he said. Singh made wife Anita pretend that she was pregnant and came with her to a relative’s house in Sonari 10 days ago. He started looking for a newborn in hospitals. His plan was to tell his parents in Bokaro that Anita had given birth in Sonari.

Singh met Dubey who allegedly demanded Rs 35,000 — Rs 10,000 for himself and Rs 25,000 for a “couple ready to sell their baby”. “The guard never told me he would steal a baby. I paid him thinking that I was buying a child and doing some poor parents a good turn,” Singh told the police.

Bimla, who is admitted to MGM because she became very weak after childbirth, said a nurse at the hospital met her about a week ago. “She was accompanied by a guard. She tried to persuade me to sell the child because we are very poor. My husband is a labourer. She said we would not be able to raise him. But I refused to part with my son,” said Bimla.

Guard Dubey once again visited her on Saturday evening and tried to cajole her into giving away the baby. As Bimla remained adamant, he decided to steal the child.

During interrogation, nurse Mani admitted that she had asked the woman to give her son to someone looking for a child. Inspector Subhas Mundu of Sakchi police station said Dubey stole the child and Singh’s role was being probed.