Tension prevailed for some time at the Government Hospital in Pollachi today as relatives started agitating, following reports that a six-day-old baby had gone missing from the ward.

The boy child, born to one Jayanthi, was kept in a photo therapy room for the last six days, since he was reportedly underweight. Similarly, a female baby born this morning to one Nithya was also kept in the room.

Jayanthi, who had gone to breastfeed her child, found the baby missing and immediately alerted the relatives, who rushed to the main door of the hospital and indulged in picketing. CCTV footage in the room showed that a woman was taking the baby out of the room. Since the woman was not seen going out of the hospital, an intense search was carried out on the premises.

The baby was traced to a ward, where the woman was holding it. The woman had mistaken the child to be her granddaughter, born that morning to Nithya. Even as the police rushed to the spot on hearing the incident, the baby was restored to the mother, easing the tension after nearly an hour.