Six persons were arrested by Oomerabad police near Ambur town in Tirupattur for allegedly selling a two-month-old girl to a couple in Namakkal for ₹4.6 lakh cash.

The police said the arrested persons were identified as S. Jabina, 35, mother of the baby, Rashid Ahamed, 50, Pughal, 45, Uma Maheshwari, 32, Mohammed Allaudeen, 62, and Ramesh, 43. Except Uma Maheshwari, who works as a nurse in a private hospital in Salem, others are reportedly brokers involved in convincing Jabina to sell her baby.

The police said the couple who received the baby was identified as Sathish and Harini from Namakkal. Rashid Ahamed convinced Jabina, who is an alms seeker near Ambur, to sell the baby girl. Ahamed got in touch with other brokers before they informed Uma Maheshwari about the baby.

The police said Shabbir Ahmed, a person with disability and husband of Jabina, learnt about the sale and alerted local police. Subsequently, the police managed to recover the baby from the gang and handed it over to the couple in Ambur. A case was registered. Arrested persons were lodged at sub-jail in Tirupattur. A probe is under way.