Grandfather in Punjab sells 3-day old grandson over Facebook

In the first known incidence of child trafficking over a social networking site, a three-day-old baby was sold on Facebook for £9,660 after his own grandfather, who told his daughter that her child, had died and stole him, MailOnline reported.

According to Punjab police, the man, named only as Firoz, was offered Rs45,000 by a hospital nurse and her accomplice who were part of a child trafficking ring.

The report said a Delhi-based businessman later bought the child for Rs800,000 through a deal arranged on Facebook.

Local media reports said, the mother, named only as Noora, gave birth to the baby boy in Ludhiana on 8 April and was discharged from hospital the following day.

On 10 April, the baby was taken away by Sunita, a nurse, and a fellow hospital employee named Gurpreet Singh, claiming he was ill.

They told her the following day that the child had died.

Later on 12 April some people reportedly came to Noora's home and paid her father Firoz Rs 45,000, after which he left the home.

However Noora, who had separated from her husband in February this year, became suspicious about her father's sudden new wealth and reported the baby as missing to the police.

Officers then traced Firoz to the city of Saharanpur in UP who revealed the plot during an interrogation.

The police team on returning to the hospital found the baby alive and well and returned him to his mother.

Investigators believe the baby was sold to a middleman for Rs 350,000 (£4,230) by the nurse and her accomplice.

The Facebook deal was then allegedly arranged with the businessman.

The police arrested five people including the grandfather and another man accused of facilitating the deals.

According to the police the case was the  ''tip of a iceberg'' of a child-trafficking scandal and more details were expected as the alleged middle-man was being questioned, police said.