Haryana Teams Bust Interstate Prenatal Sex-Determination Racket in Gaya

Overview

• A joint PNDT team from Jhajjar and Charkhi Dadri used a decoy and tracked a cab to raid Shiv Shakti Ultrasound Centre in Tikari, Gaya, after an operation that began on June 19 led to the arrests.
• Four people were detained and named as Ramashray Prasad, Gulshan Kumar, Surender and Rakesh Yadav and have been handed to Tikari police for further action.
• Officials seized an unregistered ultrasound machine and allege that one man posed as a sonologist while the centre operator and two Haryana-based agents carried out paid sex-determination scans for Rs 50,000 a case.
• Cases have been filed under the Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (PC&PNDT) Act, the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the National Medical Commission Act, with conduct punishable by three to five years in prison.
• Authorities urged public reporting, offered a Rs 1 lakh reward for credible tips, and said the raid highlights how interstate referral networks and medical impersonation undermine efforts to stop illegal prenatal sex determination.