Police yesterday arrested 29-year-old Shaik Chand Pasha, a native of Warangal working as a plumber in the Gandhi Hospital here for throwing the bodies in the drain with the help of two others for the past six months.

Police said people from other districts used to approach him to dispose of the bodies of children, unable to find burial grounds by themselves. Pasha used to charge Rs 100 per body and initially used to bury the bodies near the Gandhinagar railway tracks. He stopped it after seeing a dog digging out a body and eating it, police said adding the lure of money forced him to take up the practice again.

Residents of the twin cities were panic-stricken as nine bodies of new-born babies were found floating in the open drain in the heart of the city during the last four days.