KRISHNAGIRI: A team from the Krishnagiri district health department led by District Health Officer (DHO) Dr G Ramesh Kumar, busted a sex determination racket at Chittoor in Andhra Pradesh on Wednesday afternoon. The arrested persons were identified as B Clara Menaka Devi (40), a scan operator, and two mediators S Nalini (49) and V Sunitha (32) of Chittoor.
Speaking to TNIE, Krishnagiri DHO Dr Ramesh Kumar said, "A ten-member team was formed to bust the sex determination racket in Chittoor. Based on information received from two brokers Rajammal of Krishnagiri and N Sathyaraj of Tirupathur, Rs 15,000 was sent to Sathyaraj for identifying the sex of a fetus.
A team including Tirupathur DHO Dr S Vinoth Kumar went to Chittoor bus stand on Wednesday, and then the mother was taken to a house in the outskirts of Chittoor in Chittoor Municipal Corporation. The scan operator and two middle women were caught red handed with an ultrasound scan machine."
He added that 11 antenatal mothers were in the spot to check the sex of the fetus, among them seven already had two female children each and hailed from Chennai, Salem, Tirupathur, Tiruvannamalai, Krishnagiri, Dharmapuri and other districts.
"Menaka Devi was involved in sex determination for the past two months and had worked in another scan centre in Chittoor earlier, according to her statement, " DHO Ramesh said.
Krishnagiri Collector C Dinesh Kumar informed Chittoor Collector Sumit Kumar, who arrived and assured to take action. The Chittoor health department team lodged a complaint at Chittoor 1 town police station.
Sumit told TNIE that three persons were arrested and few more accused will be arrested in the case. Ramesh added that in the past two years, his team conducted eight decoy operations in Salem, Tirupathur, Krishnagiri and Chittoor, in which four scan machines were seized and police filed a case in six operations.
DHO Ramesh added that due to continuous efforts and decoy operations, the sex ratio in Krishnagiri district has improved. The ratio of 925 females for every 1,000 males in April 2023-March 2024 has increased to 989 females for every 1,000 males in April 2024-March 2025. In April, 2025 the ratio further increased to 1,014 female for every 1,000 male child in Krishnagiri district.