GM Medical College and Hospital, the biggest government hospital in Kolhan — is in the news for the theft of a newborn.

On Wednesday afternoon, a baby girl was born to Horo and Pangela Purty from Chaibasa in West Singhbhum and was stolen by a middle-aged woman an hour after the caesarean section delivery at the hospital’s labour room.

Footage available from the hospital’s CCTV control room showed a woman in a blue sari with a child in her arms sneaking out of the hospital. The hospital sources said Pangela delivered a healthy baby around 12.20 pm and was handed over to her grandmother by the nurses. According to sources, the grandmother climbed down the stairs and came to the registration counter with the baby in her arms.

After a few minutes, she was approached by a middle-aged woman who started a conversation with her. The sources said that the unidentified woman asked the baby’s grandmother to register the girl for Mukhya Mantri Laadli Yojana, a scheme under which a girl child from the BPL (below poverty line) family will be provided financial assistance by the government.