Titilagarh: A man allegedly sold his newborn for Rs 2.5 lakh here in Odisha's Balangir district.

The Titilagarh police arrested the accused Santosh Patel and middleman Sheikh Ramadan in this connection.

According to reports, Santosh and his wife Pushpa Patel of Jhankarpada area were blessed with their fourth baby boy at Titilagarh hospital. Due to poverty, Santosh with help of Sheikh, who was his neighbour, sold his 5-day-old baby to a person namely Raja from Kalahandi district for Rs 2.5 lakh.

After the police got information about the incident, Titilagarh police registered a suo motu case against Santosh and Sheikh and arrested them.

However, the police is yet to trace the sold child.

On the other hand, Sheikh's wife Zarina Begum alleged police atrocity on her husband in the custody.

"My husband was trapped in the case. The police threatened to kill him and send the body to Pakistan as he belongs to minority community. He was brutally assaulted inside the police station in front of me for five hours. Even after allowing me to leave the police station, he started beating him in the cell. The father of the child had no objection in selling the baby. He received Rs 2.5 lakh from a childless man, who had visited Titilagarh from Kalahandi to buy the child. My husband had no fault at all," the accused middleman's wife said.

"There is an allegation that a father has sold his baby. The question is why will a father sell his child? Sheikh Ramadan is the neighbour of the man, who has sold the child. Why the police is yet to apprehend the buyer? Why the police could not trace out the transaction allegedly made between the buyer and seller," said a counsel of the accused.