Thane: The Thane city police have prevented the sale of a 45-day-old girl and arrested four persons, including the infant's mother, officials said on Wednesday.

Acting on inputs, police used a decoy customer to contact the accused who asked him to meet them near a hotel in Kalyan, on the outskirts of Mumbai.

The baby's mother and three persons met the decoy customer on Tuesday and demanded Rs 4 lakh for the “deal”. After he handed over the money, police swooped down on them and arrested the four, an official said.

The accused have been identified as Vaishali Kishore Sonawane (35), Deepali Anil Dusing (27), the infant's mother Rekha Balu Sonawane (32), and Kishore Ramesh Sonawane (34). Police said the infant's mother relies on begging to survive.

The rescued infant and her 5-year-old brother have been sent to a shelter in the Dombivali area, while their two sisters, aged 9 and 7, have been sent to ‘Nila Balsadan' at Ambernath, police said.

Police said Rekha's husband left her and married another woman. Rekha told police that she wanted to sell the infant as she was in dire need of money, the official said.

PTI