Illegal sex determination racket busted in Punjab, one arrested

In a bid to eradicate the menace of female feticide and balance the sex ratio in Punjab, an illegal sex determination racket was busted in Sunam on Thursday. Meanwhile, the police have arrested a 52-year-old person for running this nexus. A portable ultrasound machine, worth Rs 35,000, was also recovered.

In an undercover modus operandi, the health department team sent a pregnant patient as a decoy to the racket to disclose the sex of the foetus. An amount of Rs 35,000 was paid to the accused man for conducting the test, and the patient was called to a house in Sunam.

As soon as the accused started conducting the test, the team from the health department reached the spot and caught the 53-year-old man red-handed.

The decoy patient said it was a search for this accused person in the surrounding states as well; therefore, under the strict directions of Health and Family Welfare Minister Dr. Balbir Singh, taking immediate action on this information, a joint team of Health officials from districts Barnala and Sangrur was made to conduct the raid. Dr. Parminder Kaur, Civil Surgeon Sangrur, and the Police played a pivotal role in this joint raid.

Moreover, another amount of Rs 2,49,000 and instruments and medicines used for carrying out abortions were also recovered on the spot. Apart from arresting the kingpin, the police team accompanying the raiding health team also arrested a woman who was illegally performing abortions at her home. A case under the PC-PNDT Act has been registered against the accused.

Dr. Ravinder Pal Kaur lauded the efforts of Civil Surgeon Barnala Dr.Jasbir Singh Aulakh, on whose tip-off this operation was conducted, and Assistant Director Dr.Vineet Nagpal, who coordinated the whole raid from the state. 
Divulging the details, Director Health Services (FW) Dr. Ravinder Pal Kaur said that Civil Surgeons of Barnala and Sangrur formed a joint team of the health department comprising District Family Welfare Officer, Barnala Dr. Parvesh Kumar, Deputy Medical Commissioner, Barnala Dr. Gurminder Aujla,

Gynecologist Dr. Anchal Kashyap, Radiologist, Civil Hospital Barnala Dr. Shikha, PNDT coordinator Gurjit Singh, District Family Welfare Officer Sangrur, Dr. Inderjit Singla, Dr. Amanpreet Kaur, and PNDT coordinator Harpreet Singh conducted the raid.