A 17-day-old baby boy was allegedly stolen by a woman from the PGI campus on Thursday evening. The police said they had launched a hunt to trace the woman who tricked the boy’s mother into handing over the child to her and fled.

The baby’s parents, Balram and Mamta, live in Colony 5. Balram is a daily wager.

According to the police, Mamta delivered the boy on June 22 at a government hospital in Mohali. An unknown woman came to her house on Thursday afternoon and introduced herself as an employee of the hospital. She reportedly told Mamta about certain financial schemes introduced by the Government of India for the better growth of children born to poor families. The woman asked Mamta to accompany her to the hospital to avail the monetary benefits, the police said.

“I called up my husband and informed him about the woman. He told me to go with her to complete the formalities. We did not suspect her intentions,” Mamta told the police.

The woman hired an autorickshaw and asked the driver to take them to Mohali. On the way, she changed her plan and told the driver to take them to PGI. After reaching the hospital, the police said, she asked Mamta to wait outside as she got the child medically examined.

“When she did not return for more than an hour, I panicked and called my husband,” said Mamta.

Balram said: “I asked various doctors in the emergency and the paediatric department, but no one had information about any registration for government schemes,” he told the police.

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