A newborn baby boy in India was sold on Facebook for about $15,000 in a plot orchestrated by a hospital nurse who was assisted by the infant's own grandfather, according to police in Punjab.
Though money changed hands in the complex arrangement, because of the baby's age he never left the hospital where he was born, said police, and was back with his mother.
To provide cover for the plot's nurse and an accomplice involved in a child trafficking ring, the grandfather, identified only as Firoz, told his daughter that the child born on April 8 had died, reported the
Daily Mail.
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Firoz was offered about $850 to assist with the abduction, said police.
The nurse identified as Sunita, along with a hospital employee identified as Gurpreet Singh, reportedly took the baby from his mother, who was identified only as Noora, telling her that the child was ill. One day later, nurses also told the mother that the baby had died.
The 3-day-old baby boy was then reportedly sold to a middleman for just over $6,500.
The child was eventually sold to a Delhi-based businessman for $15,000 through an arrangement that was made on Facebook.
The mother apparently became suspicious after observing her father's sudden new wealth, and reported the child missing to police.
Authorities tracked Firoz to the city of Saharanpur in Uttar Pradesh, where he revealed the entire plot during an interrogation, reported the Daily Mail.
According to police, Firoz received the $850 just four days after his grandchild was born.
In addition to Firoz, the nurse and other hospital employee have also been arrested.
Police are now searching for the middleman and the Delhi-based businessman, as well as any others who might be involved.
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The grandfather said his motivation for the sale of his grandchild was not money, police said, but rather the desire to see his daughter married again, which would have been easier if there wasn't a child in the picture.
The mother's husband reportedly abandoned her with the child.
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