Hanumangarh doctor held under PNDT Act

Sushil Manav

Tribune News Service

Sirsa, January 30

A team of the district Health Department today nabbed a doctor conducting a sex-determination test on a decoy customer at an ultrasound centre in Rajasthan’s Hanumangarh city, around 85 km from here.

Sirsa Civil Surgeon Dr Suraj Bhan Kamboj said the Rajasthan Police arrested Dr Shopat Rai, owner of the Shopat Ultrasound Clinic, and his assistant, Kavita, after registering a case against them under the PNDT Act on a complaint lodged by members of the team.

On a tip-off, the health authorities laid to trap to nab Dr Rai, said Dr Kamboj.

A team, comprising Deputy Civil Surgeon Dr Viresh Bhushan and Senior Medical Officer Dr Raj Kumar, went to Hanumangarh today with the decoy customer, a pregnant woman.

“Dr Yoginder Taneja, Additional Chief (Health) and Medical Officer from Hanumangarh, accompanied the team. The health authorities of Rajasthan were also intimated,” the Civil Surgeon said.

When Dr Rai and Kavita were performing the test on the decoy customer, the team and the local police arrested them.

This is the third case in a year where the Sirsa health authorities have nabbed a doctor from outside the state for the conducting sex-determination tests. In January last year, the authorities had nabbed a doctor at Moonak in Punjab, while a Moga doctor was caught in July.