Police on Tuesday arrested Dr Tapeshwar Lal Karn, a senior gynaecologist and former medical superintendent at Koshi Hospital, on charge of selling a newborn to a childless couple for Rs500,000.

Karn, 68, was arrested from Green Cross Hospital in Biratnagar where he had been admitted for the past five days.

Police had detained him last Friday for investigation from the hospital, but he was subsequently admitted to the hospital after he complained of high blood pressure and high blood sugar.

Deputy Superintendent of Police Ranjan Kumar Dahal, who is also the spokesman for the Morang District Police Office, said Karn sold a baby born to an unmarried couple originally hailing from ward 4 of Hatuwagadhi Rural Municipality in Bhojpur district, to a childless couple of Katahari Rural Municipality-2, Morang.

The couple who bought the baby were presented at the District Police Office on Tuesday along with the infant.

A 26-year-old woman gave birth to a baby at Green Cross Hospital in Biratnagar under Karn’s medical supervision on June 29. The infant’s father had taken his eight-month-pregnant girlfriend to Karn’s clinic. She gave birth to the infant the next day at the hospital.

On Tuesday, police detained the man who bought the infant, his mother and his elder sister.

The police also detained Karn’s assistant for her alleged involvement in the trade.

Police investigation revealed that Karn had sold the infant to the couple through a staff member working at the operation theatre of the Green Cross Hospital. The staff member is a relative of the childless couple.

“I heard that Karn arranged children for childless people. So I requested him to arrange for an infant,” she said. “On June 29, Karn called us saying that he had arranged a baby. We received the infant after providing Rs500,000 to the doctor through his assistant.”

According to her, the infant was taken ill with pneumonia and brought home after a week-long treatment at Birat Nursing Home. The infant, who is now under police care, is in normal condition.

Police have established that Karn took Rs35,000 from the infant’s father to ‘manage’ the newborn.

Karn had worked for over two and half decades at the Gynaecology Department of Koshi Hospital. He was the medical superintendent of the hospital from April 2 to September 30, 2014. Police investigation has revealed that Karn had been involved in selling babies born through illicit relationships to childless couples for the past 10 years.

The child’s father had brought his girlfriend on June 29 to Karn’s clinic near Green Cross Hospital in Biratnagar. After initial examination in his clinic, Karn admitted the child’s mother to the Green Cross Hospital, where she delivered her baby the next day, and changed their names and address. The hospital’s records show that the child’s parents’ names and address have been altered. The couple is registered as residents of ward 11 in Ramdhuni Rural Municipality whereas the rural municipality has only nine wards.

After delivering the child, Karn discharged the mother from the hospital without the child.

Two nurses, who were on duty at the hospital at the time of the delivery, in their statement to the police, said that Karn pressured them to prepare a report mentioning that the newborn weighed 950 grams at birth. They claim that the baby weighed 2.25 kg at birth.

The nurses also claimed that Karn asked them to mention in the report that the baby had to be referred to Dharan or Birat Nursing Home for further treatment and to mention that the baby’s father had received the child.

According to Krishna Khawas, chairman of Green Cross Hospital’s Board of Directors, Karn would bring his patients from his clinic for delivery to the hospital. He was asked to pay only the bed charges for the maternity services he used at the hospital.

“He paid Rs3,000 as bed charge when he brought the pregnant woman for delivery back in June,” said Khawas. “We had given access to Karn to use the hospital facilities on the basis of trust but his business is reprehensible. The hospital administration had no idea that Karn was involved in selling newborns until now.”

The incident came to light when the infant’s mother lodged a complaint at the District Police Office on August 17 against the child’s father and Karn, accusing them of selling her baby.

According to police, the infant’s father took the woman to a hotel in Itahari of Sunsari district after getting discharged from the hospital. The man left the hotel after two days and didn’t return. The woman later went to Sonapur, Sunsari, and stayed there with her relatives for a few weeks.

Based on the woman’s complaint, police first detained the infant’s father for investigation. Karn was detained following the statement of the child’s father, said police.