BALASORE: Tension flared up in Fakir Mohan Medical College and Hospital (FM MCH) here after an eight-day-old baby boy reportedly went missing from the special newborn care unit (SNCU) on Thursday.
Parents of the newborn are residents of Baliapal town in the district. Sources said Tikili Barik, aged around 30 years, gave birth to the boy at Jaleswarpur community health centre (CHC) in Bhograi block last week.
After undergoing treatment in the CHC, the baby was shifted to FM MCH on Wednesday after his condition reportedly deteriorated.
The MCH doctors advised Tikili and her husband Susanta to admit the newborn in SNCU. In the morning on Thursday, Tikili fed her baby and returned from the SNCU. At around noon, the nurse asked her to feed the baby again. Tikili told her husband Susanta to bring lunch for her and went to the SNCU.
On reaching the unit, she reportedly could not find her newborn. Tikili immediately informed Susanta about their missing baby. The parents then went to the nurses on duty but the latter expressed their ignorance about the baby’s whereabouts.
Subsequently, the couple filed a complaint in the police outpost on the MCH premises. Tikili alleged that someone has stolen her baby from the SNCU with the help of the hospital staff.
On being informed, Balasore City DSP Gayatri Pradhan reached the MCH for investigation. Police said basing on the couple’s complaint, a case has been registered. Police are collecting the footage of CCTVs installed in front of the SNCU and other places on the MCH premises. Nearby police stations have been alerted and efforts are underway to trace the missing baby.