Jorhat, May 18: A newborn who went missing from Jorhat Medical College and Hospital was recovered by police from Socklating tea estate, 25km from the town late this afternoon.

An ASHA worker, Sarathi Majhi, has been arrested in this connection. Police said Sarathi, who is childless, had stolen the baby from JMCH this morning.

The police traced the child after enquiring at the auto stand near the JMCH. “An autorickshaw driver said he had ferried a woman with a child around 11.30am today,” a police official investigating the case said.

The official said the autorickshaw driver said the woman was in a hurry and had paid him double the fare to Socklating tea estate. “The driver led us to the place where he dropped the woman. Subsequently, we managed to recover the baby and Sarathi was arrested,” the official said.

Earlier, the two-day-old boy’s parents, Sapna Gowala, 19, and Madhab Gowala, 24, who hail from Cinnamara tea estate on the outskirts of this town, told The Telegraph that an unknown woman came to the ante-natal ward of the hospital around 11am, befriended Sapna and Madhab’s aunt, Sukhmoti, who were looking after the boy, hoodwinked them and stole the baby.

Madhab had left for his house by then, leaving the baby and its mother in the care of his aunt.

The middle-aged stranger identified herself as a former ASHA worker. She said she hailed from Neghriting near Dergaon and claimed to know Madhab’s parents.

Sapna said the woman told her and Sukhmoti that an immunisation injection needed to be given to the baby and for this they needed to get a special card made by collecting a ticket from the hospital counter. She claimed that the parents would get some money after the shot was given.

“Believing her, our aunt and I agreed to make the card. We took out the papers issued by the hospital but the woman insisted that the baby had to be taken along to the counter to get the card issued. So my aunt took the baby along,” Sapna said.

Sukhmoti returned in 20 minutes, shouting that the stranger had stolen the baby.

Sukhmoti, who was questioned at the police outpost on the hospital campus, said when she was standing in the queue to get the card, the baby started crying. At this, the stranger offered to cradle the newborn and she gave her the baby. Within seconds the woman disappeared with the baby.

JMCH superintendent B.P. Das said the parents’ negligence had resulted in the baby going missing from the hospital as there was no need to take the newborn out of the ward.

JMCH deputy superintendent Shyamanta Madhob Sarmah said a private security firm, responsible for the hospital’s security, had deployed 31 men round-the-clock in shifts. He said since this month, 41 homeguards were assisting the private guards.

Sarmah said three kinds of cards (white, yellow and green) were issued to patients, attendants and helpers, and no person was allowed to enter the hospital premises without these cards.