An investigation is underway (Representational)

A private doctor and an auxiliary nurse midwife (ANM) were arrested on Saturday, days after the death of a newborn girl whom they allegedly dumped near a temple after she was abandoned by her unwed mother at a nursing home in Andhra Pradesh's Krishna district, the police said.

The baby was abandoned in a local private nursing home in Machilipatnam on October 1, they said.

The nursing home staff led by Dr Dhanwantari Srinivasacharya and ANM Baby Rani had reportedly thrown away the baby near Sri Venkateswarasamy temple on the same day.

On being alerted by the locals, police rescued the baby and admitted her to the district government hospital where doctors referred her to another facility in Vijayawada on October 2. However, she was declared dead at the Vijayawada government hospital the same day, police said.

Dr Srinivasacharya and ANM Baby Rani were found involved in dumping the baby after she was disowned by her biological parents. The doctor, who was on duty in the delivery room when the unwed mother gave birth to the baby, is absconding, police said.

The doctor and the ANM were arrested on the basis of a complaint lodged by Machilipatnam Village Revenue Officer Sudhakar, said Chilakalapudi Circle Inspector M Venkatanarayana.

A case has been registered at Chilkalapudi police station under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code and the investigation is underway, the Circle Inspector said.