Nurse was accused of being involved in "selling" newborns with help of hospital staff (Representational)
A retired government nurse was arrested in Tamil Nadu's Namakkal on Friday in connection with her purported claim in an audio clip that she has been stealing and selling newborns for 30 years, police said.
Besides nurse Amutha, her husband and an ambulance driver have also been arrested, they said.
After the audio clip went viral, Tamil Nadu Health Secretary Beela Rajesh had instructed the director of the Health and Rural Welfare Department to look into the claim.
In the clip, the nurse purportedly said she had sold newborn girls for Rs 2.75 lakh and if the babies were fair and good looking, they were sold for Rs 3 lakh.
Newborn boys were sold for Rs 3 lakh and if they were beautiful, for Rs 3.75 lakh to Rs 4 lakh, she had said in the clipping recorded by a "prospective client".
The woman had also said in the clip that she even arranged for a birth certificate if an extra amount of Rs 70,000 was paid.
She was accused of being involved in "selling" of newborns in connivance with the hospital staff after she getting voluntary retirement.