DHARMAPURI: Officials from the Joint Director of Medical Services on Wednesday night busted a sex determination racket in Karimangalam near Semmankuzhimedu. Karimangalam police registered a case and arrested five suspects.
The suspects were identified as V Karpagam(38), M Silambarasan (31), R Selvaraj(35), A Viji (35) and R Subash Chandra Bose (28). Police are on the lookout for one more suspect M Vijaykumar (39). Joint Director of Medical Services, Dr K Santhi said the suspects were arrested last year for the same offence and are out on bail.
Dr Santhi said, “ Based on a tip-off, a team led by Kamalakannan conducted an investigation. The suspects functioned out of a house near Karimangalam where pregnant women are brought by agents in an auto.
Karpagam, a registered nurse, handles the ultrasound machine to perform scans and informs the mother-to-be about the sex of the foetus. For this, each woman is charged between `12,000-15,000 including commission to the agents.”
Further, Santhi said Karpagam had no knowledge about the use of the ultrasound machine or study/understand the images shown. “Most of the victims were fooled by the team of offenders. We have yet to know how many people have been hoodwinked by these people.”
Commenting on how the team got the scan machine, Dr Santhi said, “The suspects said they brought it for a meagre sum, and we are investigating the source.” Karimangalam police who commented on the matter said, “As per the Preconception and Pre Natal Diagnostic Techniques Act 1994, the identification of the sex of the fetus is a violation. We have booked the five people with IPC 419 and 420 for cheating and fraud and section 15(2) of the Indian Medical Council Act.