Indonesian police say they have cracked an Instagram baby-selling racket, arresting four people over their alleged involvement in buying and selling infants on the picture-sharing site.

Among those arrested were a 29-year-old man from Sidoarjo who allegedly ran the account and a 22-year-old woman from Surabaya, believed to have put her child up for sale on the platform.

Two individuals from Bali, a midwife and a potential buyer, were also apprehended, Ethe ast Java police spokesperson Frans Barung Mangera said.

Mangera said police had foiled a planned transaction in Surabaya on 3 October during which the woman was planning to sell her baby for 15m rupiah (£743).

An adoption statement, cash and mobile phones that included messages about the planned sale were also seized by police.

The four face a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison under Indonesia’s child protection laws.

The Instagram account, now closed, presented itself as a service promoting “family welfare” and providing solutions to family problems.

Featuring scores of photos of women in masks alongside other anonymous photographs, it positioned itself as a platform for counselling or “consultation”, especially for young, unmarried pregnant women – exploiting social taboos in the largely Muslim country.

The account featured stories of women choosing to put their unborn babies up for adoption financial reasons. With more than 700 followers, the account appears to have been active for just over one year.

The most recent post, dated 15 September, featured a grainy black and white photo of a baby named “C86”. It listed the infant as male, one month old, Muslim, and from central Java. Interested Instagram users were advised to contact the administrators via a WhatsApp number.

Mangera told the Guardian he believed at least three babies had been sold via the page.

An Instagram spokesperson said: “The safety of our community on Instagram is our absolute priority. Our policies clearly prohibit people from engaging in criminal activity and coordinating harm on our platform, which includes the sale of humans. We take this very seriously and remove this content as soon as we become aware of it.”