This story is from February 9, 2016

Sting nets private hospital owner, 3 others for sex test

The owner, gynaecologist and receptionist of a private hospital were arrested on Sunday, along with a Lady Health Visitor (LHV) of a primary health centre in Bhondsi, for conducting sex determination test on a decoy customer after a district administration team conducted a sting operation on the hospital.
Sting nets private hospital owner, 3 others for sex test

Gurgaon: The owner, gynaecologist and receptionist of a private hospital were arrested on Sunday, along with a Lady Health Visitor (LHV) of a primary health centre in Bhondsi, for conducting sex determination test on a decoy customer after a district administration team conducted a sting operation on the hospital. On Monday, police revealed that the LHV, Krishna, may have links with other private hospitals across Delhi-NCR.
Gurgaon CMO Dr Ramesh Dhankar said his team was tipped off that Bhatnagar Hospital, near DSD College on Railway Road, was involved in the illegal activity. "We planned a sting operation with deputy commissioner T L Satyaprakash's support, and prepared a decoy customer," he said.
The decoy approached Krishna, who demanded Rs 20,000 for the test. Krishna then took the decoy to Bhatnagar Hospital. The receptionist, Renu, conducted an ultrasonography, violating Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (PNDT) Act norms banning pre-natal sex determination.
Neither was the patient's name registered, nor was the mandatory Form F filled before the test, which maintains a record of women undergoing ultrasound.
The team nabbed Renu and Krishna red-handed and sealed the ultrasound machine. An FIR under PNDT Act was lodged against the hospital's gynaecologist Dr Vinita Bhatnagar, the owner Dr B M Bhatnagar, Krishna and Renu.
"The receptionist was not even qualified to operate the machine. The gynaecologist and the owner are equally responsible for this nefarious act," Dr Dhankar said. In a raid on Krishna's house Sunday afternoon, the team found cash envelopes with names of big private hospitals. "She was part of a network of 10-11 hospitals. We'll conduct an inquiry against these hospitals soon," said the SSP at a press conference on Monday.

Sources revealed Krishna may have links with hospitals in Delhi too. "Krishna's network is spread across Delhi-NCR. We expect a lot of doctors and hospital staff to be involved. She used to fetch patients from government hospitals to private ones for the test," said a source. Pregnancy termination kits stolen from Civil Hospital were also found inside Krishna's washing machine. "Our team will probe how Krishna got the kits and drugs from the hospital," said Dr Dhankar.
Red Cross secretary Shyam Sunder, who was part of the team, told TOI, "We're offering Rs 1 lakh to people who give information about hospitals involved in the racket and Rs 20,000 to those who help us nab hospital staff, through our network in Bhiwani, Kurukshetra, Narnaul and Yamunagar. We're also expanding our network and expect to catch big hospitals soon."
The district administration has started a helpline number (8010088088) where one can provide information on hospitals or individuals involved in sex determination tests.
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