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Health officials seal 3 scanning centres in Bagalkot district
The scanning centres at Malaghan Hospital in Mudhola, Renuka Hospital in Badami, and Banashankari Hospital in Guledagudda were shut down on Wednesday
Three scanning centres in Mudhol and Badami towns have been sealed during a raid into several prominent hospitals by officials from Delhi’s Central Prenatal Fetal Detection Prohibition Team and Bagalkot district health officers for illegally conduction abortions, the officials said.
An official said that the scanning centres at Malaghan Hospital in Mudhola, Renuka Hospital in Badami, and Banashankari Hospital in Guledagudda were shut down on Wednesday.
Bagalkot district health officer Dr Jayashree Emmi told HT: “Acting on specific information, we carried out raids on Tuesday and Wednesday with a team of officials from Delhi. During the raids, we found all three hospitals operating abortions in scanning centres without any registration or permission from the government, which is illegal. We have also seized the scanned documents as evidence and will file a case in court.”
The health officials said that Malaghan Hospital in Mudhol, operated by Dr Asha Malaghan, was found to be running a scanning centre without the required permissions. During the probe, it was found that centre was being used for illegal prenatal sex determination and abortions.
The team also sealed Renuka Hospital in Badami, which was being run by gynaecologist Dr Kavita Shivanaikar who also works at the Badami Government Hospital. The authorities seized the scanning machine and related documents, after it found evidence of illegal fetal sex determination and subsequent abortions. The officials said that there were allegations of Dr Shivanaikar conducting these unlawful activities during her duty hours at the taluk hospital.
During the crackdown at Banashankari Hospital, the team seized equipment and documents.
