Cuttack, Feb 10: A doctor and four others were arrested on Friday following raid on an illegal prenatal sex determination and ultrasound centre here in the house of a government doctor at Friends Colony.
Acting on a tip-off, a special team of Health and Family Welfare department raided the house of Dr Punyashlok Das, posted at Deogarh district headquarters hospital, along with police in presence of sub-collector, Cuttack.
The team seized several equipments including a portable ultrasound machine used for prenatal sex determination, medicines for female foeticide and Rs 40,000 in cash, said sources.
The team caught Dr Das red-handed when he was allegedly carrying out illegal tests on three pregnant women. The women confessed to have come to the clinic through brokers.
Other four arrested are Dr Das’ wife Bismita and three brokers – Bibhuti Sahoo of Muktapari in Dhenkanal, Debendra Behera of Balikuda in Jagatsinghpur and Soumya Ranjan Prusty of Kuakhai Balipatana in Cuttack. Another accused Mahendra Kumar Nayak of Shree Diagnostics at Ranihat is absconding.
Dr Das was arrested and suspended last year for carrying out illegal tests on pregnant women to detect the gender of the foetus. After coming out of jail on bail and revocation of his suspension, he was running the illegal clinic with an unregistered portable ultrasound machine through a chain of brokers, said a member of the special team.
