COIMBATORE: Five persons including a woman were arrested for running a sex determination racket in Dharmapuri.
Acting on a tip, a team of health department staff led by C Balasubramaniam, Chief Medical Officer, Palacode Government Hospital inspected the house of one R Subashchandra Bose, 28 at ‘Semmankuzhimedu’ village in Karimangalam taluk on Wednesday.
His house has doubled up as an illegal sex determination clinic and five others identified by police as Karpagam, 38, a quack working as a nurse in a private hospital in Salem, her husband M Vijayakumar, 39, M Silambarasan, 31, a daily wager, R Selvaraj, 35, an auto driver, I Viji, 35, a car driver were part of the racket. While Vijayakumar had gone into hiding, the Karimangalam police arrested all others.
Revealing the sex of the foetus is prohibited under the Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques Act (PCPNDT), 1994.
During inspection, the health department authorities discovered that Karpagam had determined the gender of the fetus of five women, while the scanning process was underway for two more women. Officials seized an ultrasonography machine, medical equipment, auto, two cars, four cell phones and Rs 3,000 in cash from the accused persons.
An inquiry is on to know their network and how many were duped so far by the gang. All the accused persons were produced in court and remanded in judicial custody.