BERHAMPUR: Two days after a sex determination racket was busted in Ankuli area of Berhampur, police detected a link with Hyderabad in the ongoing investigation. Police believe the clinic, run by key accused Durga Prasad Nayak, was clandestinely operating for nearly three years.
Though further details of the probe have not been disclosed yet, it has come to the fore that Durga took training and even bought the ultrasound machines from a Hyderabad-based private agency at a cost of Rs 5.9 lakh which is illegal under the Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (PC-PNDT) Act.
A senior police officer, on condition of anonymity, shared that the investigation will be directed towards the Hyderabad link as Durga is believed to have been in constant touch with the firm. After each sex determination test, he reportedly sent the findings of the machine on WhatsApp to the agency for confirmation. Police have seized Durga’s phone for verification.
Among the 13 arrested, seven are staff of other clinics. It is suspected that they took the commission to refer pregnant women to Durga’s centre for sex determination. Owners of these clinics besides the husbands of the 11 women present during the raid will be called for questioning, police said.
The administration, however, did not carry out any raid on the clinics in the city despite assurance. Meanwhile, most clinics remained shut for the second day in a row after the racket came to light and speculation is rife that the owners are trying to eliminate essential information about patients to escape scrutiny.