Officials Bust Alleged Foetal Sex Determination Racket in Maharashtra
The operation followed information that pregnant women from Karnataka were being taken to Jadar Babaladi in Maharashtra for illegal scanning and, allegedly, abortions.
Bagalkot: Posing as a pregnant woman, her relative and her mother, a team of Bagalkot health and revenue officials travelled into Maharashtra and busted an alleged illegal foetal sex determination racket.
Giving details about the operation Bagalkot Deputy Commissioner Sangappa said that the operation followed information that pregnant women from Karnataka were being taken to Jadar Babaladi in Maharashtra for illegal scanning and, allegedly, abortions.
The main information was when officials questioned Kavita Badanaval, who was suspected of acting as a middleman for the racket, at Mahalingapur around 3.30 pm on Monday.
During the questioning, she allegedly told the officials that illegal foetal sex determination was being conducted at Jadar Babaladi.
She also stated that 3-4 pregnant women had already been taken there for scanning and abortions.
Acting on the information, the officials decided to conduct a decoy operation.
Jamkhandi Sub-Divisional Magistrate Shwetha Beedikar posed as a pregnant woman, while Medical Act Deputy Director Shobha TR accompanied her as her sister-in-law.
District Health and Family Welfare Officer Dr Suvarna Kulkarni posed as her mother.
The team reached Jadar Babaladi around 9.30 pm and contacted Nikhil Teli, who allegedly told them that the scanning would be conducted at a farm house.
Nikhil's mother, Danakka Teli, allegedly demanded money for the scan and that the portable machine had been kept at the house of Kavita Godekar in Karjagi village.
When the team reached the house of Kavita Godekar and her husband Basavaraj Godekar, they found preparations under way to conduct a scan using a portable ultrasound machine.
The officials immediately sprang into action and seized the machine and related equipment during the raid.
The suspected key operator of the network, identified by officials as Sanjay Vagmore alias Patil, reportedly got wind of the operation and fled.
A search is under way to trace him.
After the raid, the officials took the seized portable scanner to Ummadi police station in Maharashtra and handed it over to the competent medical authorities.
Officials said an FIR had been registered at Ummadi police station against Sanjay Vagmore, Nikhil Teli, Danakka Teli and Kavita Godekar for alleged violations of the Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (PC-PNDT) Act, practising medicine without authorisation, conspiracy and abetment.
The operation was carried out by a special team formed under the direction of Bagalkot Deputy Commissioner Sangappa. The team included Jamkhandi Sub-Divisional Magistrate Shwetha Beedikar, Medical Act Deputy Director Shobha TR, District Health and Family Welfare Officer Dr Suvarna Kulkarni, Rabakavi-Banahatti Tahsildar Girish Swadi and health department official Manu.
Additional Superintendent of Police M Jagadish and Dr Suvarna Kulkarni were present at the press conference.
