Health department officials of Ambala and Ludhiana, along with the city police, arrested one person and booked three others for allegedly running an illegal sex-determination centre from a house in Jartoli village in Dehlon.
The accused have been identified as Kulwinder Singh, a resident of Patiala, who acted as a tout, and his three accomplices identified as Gurpreet Singh, Amandeep Kaur and Dr Jatinder. Kulwinder’s accomplices are on the run.
The raid was conducted on Friday evening following a tip-off from Ambala health department officials.
District family welfare officer Dr SP Singh said they received information from Ambala health department officials around 3 pm and conducted the raid at 4 pm. “I along with Pakhowal senior medical officer Dr Sandeep Kaur joined the Ambala team and the city police in conducting the raid. No machines were found,” he said.
According to sources, the Ambala health department officers had even conducted a sting operation on Friday. The team reportedly sent a pregnant woman as a decoy to Ludhiana. When the woman reached the Ludhiana bus stand, she called the tout Kulwinder, who took her to the sex-determination clinic at Jartoli village. Later, the woman informed the officers that she had undergone scanning and the persons at the centre have also revealed the sex of the unborn baby.
Following this, the team conducted the raid but they neither found any person at the spot nor were able to recover any machines.
{{/usCountry}}Following this, the team conducted the raid but they neither found any person at the spot nor were able to recover any machines.
{{/usCountry}}The investigation continued till late at night. Later, police arrested the tout Kulwinder and recovered ₹4,000 cash from him.
Inspector Jagdev Singh, Sadar station house officer, said the four accused have been booked under Sections 420 (cheating) and 120b (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code, and Section 3A, 5, 6, 23 and 25 of the Pre-conception and pre-natal diagnostic techniques (prohibition of sex selection) Act.
“One of the accused has been arrested but he has not revealed anything yet. The investigation is in process. The accused will be produced before the court and we will seek police custody to find out more about the centre,” he said and added that a manhunt has been launched to arrest other accused.
VILLAGE SAW RAID LAST YEAR TOO
According to sources, Ambala health department had alerted health officers of Ludhiana last year too about an illegal sex determination centre in Jartoli village. Dr SP Singh confirmed that last year he had received a complaint from Ambala health department and a raid was conducted in this village but the team couldn’t find anything.