The foster father, a major in the medical corps of Bangladesh army, said preferring anonymity: "The babies are completely in good health and we are taking good care of them. We will do our best to ensure a bright future for both of them just the way we would have done for our own children."

The babies, a 17-day old boy and a 10-day old girl, were rescued from the house of one Jharna Begum of Khilgaon. Jharna claimed that she bought the babies for Tk 22,000 from a middleman, named Shilla, a special attendant of Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH).

Police have arrested Jharna Begum and Manik, Shilla's husband, but have not been able to trace the real parents yet.

Two days after their rescue, police on January 5 handed over the infants to the temporary custody of one Rukhsana Begum of Madhya Badda when she came to Sabujbagh Police Station after watching a TV report on them.

Rukhsana said: "I watched the babies on ATN Bangla and was so moved that when my youngest daughter Oishi told me to bring them home, I rushed to the police station."

When she arrived, Rukhsana found the babies lying on the "ice-cold" floor of the police station. "The boy had already caught a cold and the girl could hardly open her eyes. I just could not leave them there like that."

Rukhsana and her family looked after the babies for five days. But their joy did not last for too long. She said: "Police suddenly came to my house on January 9 morning, with the foster parents and took them away from us."

An emotional Rukhsana said: "I cannot forget their faces. The police could have asked me if I was interested in adopting the babies. They became a part of our family. My children lost their own siblings."

The middle-aged couple, which adopted the babies, is childless and had been looking for newborn babies for adoption since they heard that they could not have children.

"After doctors confirmed that we cannot have children, we had been, for the last few years, looking forward and planning to adopt a child. When I read the news about these two unfortunate infants in the Prothom Alo, I did not waste any time in deciding to adopt them," the foster father said.