Shamli: A 45-year-old doctor, who had recently received UP govt’s ‘women’s empowerment award’, was caught red-handed conducting illegal prenatal sex determination tests at a hospital in Shamli. The female doctor was held during a raid by a team from Haryana’s health department on Thursday evening. The team had sent a pregnant woman as a decoy to the private hospital where the doctor was found “conducting tests with an unauthorised ultrasound machine and charging Rs 30,000”.
The raid was led by Dr Vishwajeet Rathi, PNDT (pre-natal diagnostic techniques) nodal officer, Rohtak, with assistance from Shamli police and health officials after receiving a tip-off about pregnant women being taken from Haryana to the UP town for such tests.
Rathi said on Friday, “The operation involved using a pregnant woman as a decoy to approach Meena, a suspected agent. Meena demanded Rs 30,000 and transportation fee for the test. Following meticulous planning, the decoy, along with Meena, travelled from Gohana (Haryana) to Shamli, with another pregnant woman joining them along the way. Upon reaching Maa Savitri Nursing Home at Shamli, the illegal tests were conducted by Dr Neelam Shukla.
Neelam, Meena and another agent Ashok alias Sahadev were subsequently arrested.”
A case was filed under BNS sections 318 (4) (cheating and dishonestly) and 61 (2) (criminal conspiracy), along with provisions of the Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (Regulation and Prevention of Misuse) Act against them after a complaint by ACMO Shamli, Dr Atul Bansal.
