Sex determination racket busted, doctor among 3 held in Ghaziabad

GURUGRAM: Health department officials on Saturday conducted a raid at a house in Ghaziabad and nabbed a doctor and two others for allegedly conducting illegal sex determination of the foetus and seized a portable ultrasound machine from their possession.
A case has been registered against the three under the Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (PCPNDT) Act, 1994; Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, 1971 in Ghaziabad.
The arrests came after a city-based pregnant woman informed the health officials that a gang of seven people were illegally conducting sex determination test of foetus from a house in Ghaziabad and charging between Rs 40,000 and Rs 50,000. Following the tip-off, the department initiated the operation and then informed the police. While three people were arrested from the spot, four others are still on the run, police said.
“The doctor, who is now in police custody, has three other complaints against him for conducting illegal sex determination. The pregnant woman was asked to pay Rs 40,000 for the process. She informed the health team and thereafter a health department team nabbed the doctor and two others and recovered a portable ultrasound machine,” said Dr Virender Yadav, chief medical officer (CMO) of Gurugram.
“It was an inter-state sex determination racket. We will be conducting multiple raids across NCR to check such practices as it is not limited to one city,” the CMO added.
So far, the team has conducted 13 raids and more than 15 people have been arrested.