Rohtak: An illegal sex determination racket was recently uncovered by a special team from the Rohtak Health Department at a clinic near Jat Bhawan. A gynaecologist, who owns the clinic, along with five accomplices, was arrested after being caught in the act of performing a sex determination test on the fetus of a pregnant woman, who was sent in as a decoy.
During the raid, authorities discovered that pregnant women from Rohtak were being transported to Baghpat in Uttar Pradesh for illegal sex determination tests. The accused used a portable ultrasound machine to carry out these prohibited tests. The deal for one such test was agreed upon at a price of Rs 65,000.
The team followed a lead that took them on a 450-km chase to Sarurpur Kalan village in Baghpat, Uttar Pradesh, where six individuals were arrested, including a female doctor from Rohtak who was a major part of the operation. The accused allegedly performed the sex determination test on the decoy woman using a portable ultrasound machine at Sahib Singh’s house in Sarurpur, Baghpat, under the guidance of Dr. Tiyagi.
According to the Financial World news report, the operation was led by Rohtak’s Deputy Commissioner and Civil Surgeon, who formed a special team under the Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (PC-PNDT) Act. The raid was carried out in coordination with the police, with involvement from key medical officers, including Dr. Vishwajit Rathi (nodal officer for PNDT), Dr. Vishal Chaudhary, Dr. Mohit Gill, Senior Medical Officer Dr. Sanjeev Malik, dental surgeon Dr. Vikas Saini, and Assistant Medical Officer Dr. Vijay. Police personnel, including MPHW Ranjit, IA Deepak Sharma, Joginder, and HC Rajesh Balhara, were also part of the operation.
The incident took place on December 17 when the health department set up a decoy operation, sending the pregnant woman to Sarurpur with two women. The doctor running the clinic traveled from Delhi to Baghpat and provided contact details for the decoy.
At the designated time, a woman named Reena met the pregnant woman at the Delhi bypass, and they both entered a vehicle. They were joined by another accomplice, Santosh, at Peeragarhi. During their journey, they also picked up a man named Rahul Bhati. Eventually, a young man known as Dr. Tiyagi drove the group to Sarurpur village in Baghpat.
At Sahib Singh’s residence, Dr. Tiyagi conducted the test with a portable machine, while another person named Shivraj was also present. The team, accompanied by police, raided the location and caught the suspects red-handed. A portable ultrasound machine and Rs 24,000 in cash were seized during the operation.
This was not the first attempt by the health department to expose the gang. A previous raid had been conducted on December 14, but it was unsuccessful as the suspects grew suspicious of a health team member posing as a client.
