Sex Determination Racket Busted In Odisha, 13 Arrested

Odisha sex determination case: Two ultrasound machines were seized, police said.

Berhampur:

Berhampur Police on Friday busted an illegal sex determination racket and arrested 13 persons, including the main accused and an ASHA worker.

“Thirteen people were arrested for running interstate ultrasound racket to determine whether the foetuses of pregnant women were male or female. On detecting a foetus as female, they would arrange for an abortion. The prime accused has been running this centre for past few years,” said Berhampur Superintendent Of Police Saravana Vivek M.

Some of the accused have been identified as Durga Prasad Nayak (41), Akshaya Dalai (24), Hari Mohana Dalai (42) Rina Pradhan (40) (Ashakarmi in CHC, Kholikote) and Rabindranath Satpathy (39) of Sri Durga Pathology.

The other accused are Kali Charan Bisoyi (38) Nirnay Diagonistic and Research Centre, Bhabanagar Chhak, Susant Kumar Nanda (40) of Sai Krupa Seva Sadan Nursing Home, Padma Charan Bhuyan (60) of Jagannath Clinic, Sibaram Pradhan (37) of Josoda Nursing Home, Sumanta Kumar Pradhan (30) of Mrutyunjaya Hospital, Dhabaleswar Nayak (51), Mailapuri Sujata (49) of Smart Hospital and Subash Ch Raut (48) of Ralaba.

The police seized one LOGIQ-e Ultrasound machine along with probes and connector, one Laminated LOGIQ Book XP ultrasound machine, transmission gel used for ultrasonography, Rs 18,200 cash and a mobile phone.

“Portable ultrasound machine which is banned in India since 2005 has been recovered from the prime accused who was running this racket with the involvement of lab owners, hospital owners and others,” added Berhampur SP Saravana Vivek M.

Based on information regarding illegal sex determination test being conducted using an ultrasound machine at Ananda Nagar, Ankuli, the Berhampur Police team raided the house-cum-clinic run by Durga Prasad Nayak at around 12.30 pm on Thursday.

The accused was conducting sex selection at that time and 11 pregnant women were present on the first floor of the house. Two ultrasound machines and probes were seized along with other things, the police said.

Nayak has been running the illegal sex selection centre for over two-three years, police stated.

Akshaya Kumar Dalai and Haramohan Dalai have been assisting Durga Prasad Nayak by picking pregnant women from different places and taking them to the house of the accused to determine the sex of their foetus.

On Thursday, Rina Pradhan, who is an ASHA worker, brought two pregnant women from her village for the test to his house and received a commission from Nayak, said police.

Other accused persons employed in different labs and private clinics also used to send the pregnant women to the clinic through Akshya Dalai and Haramohan Dalai and receive commission regularly.

All the accused persons have been arrested and will be presented in court today, said SP Saravana Vivek M, adding that a further investigation is underway.