Pune: Pune police on Wednesday arrested Dr Akash Malgunde, a BAMS doctor, and his alleged agent, Narendra Thakre, for running an illegal sex determination racket, and seized a stock of medicines commonly used for abortion procedures from them.
The police later registered an FIR against the duo at Crime Branch Unit-7 in Wagholi under relevant sections of the Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (PCPNDT) Act, 1994.
According to the police, Dr Malgunde runs Life Care Hospital at Pachange Vasti in Dhok Sangavi, Shirur taluka, while Thakre, a resident of Kesnand in Haveli taluka, allegedly worked as an agent.
The FIR mentions that the doctor had been running the hospital for several years and was allegedly conducting illegal sex determination tests using a mobile phone application.
Advocate Megha Sontale, district legal advisor, PCPNDT Cell, Pune, raised serious questions over the easy availability of such devices. “When we asked the accused where he procured the device from, he first claimed that he had purchased them at an exhibition and later said it was sourced from Mumbai. However, he was not ready to share further details. The application used is very simple and easy for people to determine the sex of the foetus, which is alarming,” she said.
Informers tipped off police about the illegal racket who then they contacted Pune civil surgeon, Dr Nagnath Yempalle, on March 1 for further action. Crime branch officers and public health officials conducted a decoy operation on Wednesday and caught the accused red-handed.
Female constable Pratiksha Pansare posed as a decoy patient during the operation. She, along with another police constable, approached the clinic through the agent. During the sting operation, authorities found that the doctor was allegedly using a mobile application to determine the sex of the foetus, which is prohibited under the PCPNDT Act.
Dr Yempalle said, “The centre where the procedure was being carried out is not registered under the PCPNDT Act. The accused is a BAMS doctor and was not authorised to conduct such tests. During the investigation, we found reports and details for over 100 couples in Malgunde’s mobile. Records of online money transactions were also found. Patients from Pune and even Mumbai visited the hospital.”
The joint inspection was carried out in the presence of civil surgeon Yempalle and Dr. Sachin Dhas, medical superintendent of Shirur Rural Hospital.
The police action was led by deputy commissioner of police Rajendra Mulik of Crime Branch Unit-7 and senior inspector Santosh Sonawane.
Police confirmed they recovered a list detailing more than 100 couples from Pune and Mumbai who allegedly approached the accused for sex determination tests. The accused allegedly charged between ₹1 lakh and ₹1.5 lakh for each test.
During the clinic inspection, the team also found a stock of medicines commonly used for abortion procedures. The medicines and related material were seized from the premises. Based on the incriminating evidence and the accused’s statements, police said further investigation is underway.
