Illegal sex determination racket: Pune BAMS doctor, agent arrested

Pune: A BAMS doctor and his agent have been arrested by Pune police for allegedly running an illegal sex determination racket in Shirur taluka. During a raid at the clinic, authorities also seized medicines commonly used for abortion procedures.

The duo have been booked under relevant sections of the Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (PCPNDT) Act, 1994. The case has been registered at the Crime Branch Unit-7 in Wagholi.

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Advocate Megha Sontale, district legal advisor, PCPNDT Cell, Pune, raised serious questions over the easy availability of such devices. “When we asked the accused where he procured the device from, he first claimed that he had purchased it at an exhibition and later said it was sourced from Mumbai. However, he was not ready to share further details. The application used is very simple and easy for people to determine the sex of the foetus, which is alarming,” she said, reports Hindustan Times.

The illegal operation came to light after informers alerted the police. Acting on the tip-off, authorities contacted Pune Civil Surgeon Dr. Nagnath Yempalle on March 1 to initiate further action. A joint team of Crime Branch officers and public health officials then organised a decoy operation.

The joint inspection of the clinic was carried out in the presence of Dr. Yempalle and Dr. Sachin Dhas, medical superintendent of Shirur Rural Hospital. The police action was led by Deputy Commissioner of police Rajendra Mulik of Crime Branch Unit-7 and Senior Inspector Santosh Sonawane.

According to the news reports, during the operation, female constable Pratiksha Pansare posed as a decoy patient. She, along with another police constable, approached the clinic through the agent. Following the sting operation, authorities found that the doctor was allegedly using a mobile application to determine the sex of the foetus, which is prohibited under the PCPNDT Act.

Speaking to Hindustan Times, Dr. Yempalle said, “The centre where the procedure was being carried out is not registered under the PCPNDT Act. The accused is a BAMS doctor and was not authorised to conduct such tests. During the investigation, we found reports and details for over 100 couples in the doctor’s mobile. Records of online money transactions were also found. Patients from Pune and even Mumbai visited the hospital.”

Investigators said the accused charged between Rs 1 lakh and Rs 1.5 lakh for each test.

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During the inspection of the clinic, officials also found a stock of medicines commonly used for abortion procedures, which were seized along with other materials from the premises. Police said further investigation into the case is underway.