Sex test centre busted in Patiala, 2 arrested

CLINIC OWNER CHARGED ₹25,000 FROM A DUMMY PATIENT TO CONDUCT SEX DETERMINATION EXAMINATION

PATIALA: The police on Friday busted a sex determination centre in Patran here with the help of state health department.

They arrested the owner of the centre and his agent, while a woman doctor fled from the spot.

During the joint raid, police and health officials recovered ₹7,000 from the agent.

The arrested accused have been identified as clinic owner Dr Ashok Malhotra and his agent Naib Singh. Dr Davinder Kumari, the owner’s wife, is still on the run. The couple are BAMS doctors, said the health department.

Patiala civil surgeon Dr Harish Malhotra said the health department team that conducted the raid with the police included Fatehgarh Sahib family welfare officer Dr Karan Sagar and Tarn Taran family welfare officer Dr Sumit Singh.

“The clinic owner charged ₹25,000 from a dummy patient to conduct sex determination examination. Of the amount, ₹7,000 were recovered from the agent. The woman doctor who conducts the sex test fled from clinic with rest of the money and ultrasound machine. During the raid, the teams also recovered some tools being used for abortion and 1,170 tramadol tablets,” said the civil surgeon. He added, “We have written to the police to register a case under the relevant sections of the PNDT Act and NDPS Act against the accused.”

RAID AT BATHINDA HOSPITAL TOO

BATHINDA: Acting on a tip-off, health officials from Sirsa along with local police raided Indrani Hospital, a multispecialty hospital, located on Bathinda’s Namdev Road, which was allegedly carrying out gender determination tests.

Bathinda deputy superintendent of police (DSP) Aaswant Singh Dhaliwal said,” The local police was duly informed by the Haryana authorities. Bajrang Singh, a registered medical practitioner from Bathinda’s Mati Das Nagar, has been arrested by the Sirsa police.”

Civil Surgeon and member of the raiding team Dr Rajesh Chaudhary said, “A decoy patient paid Rs 42,000 on the demand of the accused to reveal the foetus’ gender. An ultrasound machine at Indrani Hospital was used for the same.”Dr Atin Gupta, owner of Indrani Hospital, denied his involvement in the crime.