4 Thane doctors held with abortion kits

Four doctors were arrested on Friday night by the Naupada, after they were allegedly found to be in possession of medical termination of pregnancy (MTP) kits worth Rs9,000. Susamma Kurian reports.

Four doctors were arrested on Friday night by the Naupada, after they were allegedly found to be in possession of medical termination of pregnancy (MTP) kits worth Rs9,000.

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Those arrested are MG Road resident Mukesh Singh, 29, Ghodbunder Road residents Prakash Chondanikar, 51, Subhash Dubey, 47 and Sunil Prajapati, 28. They are reportedly Ayurvedic and Homeopathic practitioners.

“These kits can be bought from medical stores only with a doctor’s prescription and only a gynaecologist can buy such kits from licensed distributors. None of these doctors are gynaecologists and are not authorised to have these kits,” said a senior police official. Police have booked the doctors on charges of cheating and forgery.

The arrests were made by the police along with food and drug administration (FDA) officials and civic officials. The health department of the municipal corporation had asked the FDA officials to inspect whether any clinic or medical institution/practitioner in the city was using pregnancy termination pills without permission.

During one such inspection, the FDA officials came to know of a medical representative, Anil Verma, who would buy these kits from Suburban Medical Agency in Naupada and sell them to doctors. The FDA informed the police, who arrested Verma on June 27.