Karnataka Sex Determination Racket: CID names 3 doctors among 19 suspects in final report

Bengaluru: Following the unearthing of an illegal sex determination-cum-foeticide racket last year, three doctors along with 16 other suspects have been named in the final report filed by the Central Investigation Department (CID). The agency has forwarded the report to the health department as it lacks the authority to file a charge sheet in the matter. 

The 19 suspects included three doctors, two lab technicians, two nurses, one scanning machine vendor and eleven touts. While 18 suspects were arrested and released on bail, one suspect remains at large. 

Dr Swamy, the alleged mastermind was an Ayurvedic doctor who the CID arrested in December 2023 but later released on bail. He has since passed away due to poor health. The doctor allegedly procured four portable scanning machines from a licensed dealer in Mangaluru without submitting the necessary documents. He was believed to be the common link between medical staff and touts.

Also read- Karnataka Doctor Who Allegedly Performed Around 900 Illegal Abortions Arrested

Medical Dialogues team had last year reported the incident where a doctor and his lab technician were arrested for allegedly performing around 900 illegal abortions in the last three years.

Dr Chandan Ballal and his lab technician Nisar allegedly charged around Rs 30,000 for each abortion which they carried out at a hospital in the district headquarters town of Mysuru.

Police busted the sex-determination and female foeticide racket on October 15, 2023, with the arrest of two accused — Shivalinge Gowda and Nayan Kumar — in the district headquarters town of Mandya, near Mysuru, when they were taking a pregnant woman for abortion in a car.

During interrogation, the accused-duo revealed a jaggery unit in Mandya, used as an ultrasound scan centre, from where a police team later seized the scan machine, which did not have valid authorisation or other official documents.

Later, more people came to light and were arrested including another doctor named Dr Tulasiram.

The PCPNDT Act stipulates that only a medical doctor can buy an ultrasound scanning machine by submitting the required documents, and use it in a hospital set-up. However, Swamy failed to submit valid documents to procure the scanning machines.

According to the CID, Gowda, a Mangaluru-based licensed vendor selling ultrasound scanning machines didn't insist on the documents because he desperately needed money. He told the investigators that Swamy had claimed he had all the documents. Gowda sold Swamy three more machines without documents.

The first machine that Gowda sold to Swamy was a used one. The second was broken. Gowda got both machines replaced by licensed dealers from Kerala. The CID plans to use the dealers as witnesses.

Swamy gave two machines to Siddesh, his cousin, who teamed up with a few others and started performing illegal sex determination. Shiva Nanjegowda, a lab technician from Mysuru, got another machine from Swamy and gave it to a friend, who runs a hospital in Channarayapatna.

Following this, the CID seized all four scanning machines after the racket was busted as reported by Deccan Herald.

The 11 touts who were first arrested but were released on bail spread the word about sex determination in the villages, especially in the Old Mysuru region. They also performed sex determination two days per month in makeshift labs in villages near Mandya.

The touts called the customers at a specific place in Bengaluru. The fact that the illegal sex determination tests increased as individuals who had undergone the procedure shared information, drawing in other curious villagers wanting to know the gender of their unborn child.

The touts from Bengaluru would transport them to Mandya for gender determination, with a price tag of Rs 10,000. In case the parents decided to terminate the fetus, usually female, they were directed to two hospitals in Mysuru - Matha Hospital and Ayurvedic Daycare Centre which were performed by Dr Ballal. 

The nurses were involved in this case after they helped Dr Ballal in carrying out the abortions at a hospital. The hospital’s manager Meena and receptionist Rizma Khan were arrested as reported by the Medical Dialogues team. 

Also Read: Violation of PC PNDT Act: Licence of three ultrasound centres suspended, show cause notice issued