Pune police have identified 15 medical practitioners from Pune, Solapur, Satara, and Ahilyanagar for their alleged involvement in an illegal prenatal sex determination and abortion racket. Superintendent of police (Pune rural) Sandeep Singh Gill on Thursday stated that all the medical practitioners, holding BAMS or BHMS degrees, were in contact with Annasaheb Giri, the prime accused arrested in the female foeticide case.
Details of the Racket
Giri had procured a sonography machine in 2024. Since then, the group allegedly carried out several illegal abortions in hospitals across Pune, Satara, and Ahilyanagar districts. Gill said, "We will take further legal action against them." Giri, a Std XII pass-out, was accused of conducting illegal sonography tests along with medical practitioner Atul Ankush Jadhav. Jadhav, a resident of Lohegaon-Wagholi Road, would allegedly refer pregnant women to Giri for sex determination, violating the Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (PCPNDT) Act. He was the second person arrested in the case.
Expanding the Investigation
Initially, police identified two medical practitioners from Bhor who were in contact with Giri. Further investigation revealed 13 more practitioners involved. Gill noted, "We managed to identify Giri and the others despite their attempts to destroy electronic and physical communication evidence." The practitioners are from Pune city, its rural parts, Pimpri Chinchwad, Satara, Ahilyanagar, and Solapur districts.
Police plan to question a medical practitioner from Phaltan in Satara district, who trained Giri to conduct sonography and determine foetal sex. A special team has been formed, and the case has been transferred to the Economic Offences Wing of Pune Rural Police for a fair probe.
