Over 5K MTP kits worth Rs 36.40L seized in Kaithal

In a major crackdown against the illegal sale of medical termination of pregnancy (MTP) kits in the state, the Food and Drugs Administration (FDA), Haryana, along with the health department, has unearthed a racket of unauthorised sale, supply, and use of MTP kits.

As many as 5,805 MTP kits, worth more than Rs 36.40 lakh, were recovered from the residence of a medical representative in Kaithal.

“The modus operandi of the supply chain of the kits suggests their illegal use for the termination of unlawful pregnancies,” said State Drug Controller, FDA, Manmohan Taneja.

He said there were about 1,200 approved MTP centres, in addition to MTP facilities in government institutions, that were authorised to use the kits.

He said medical representatives having a good rapport with doctors were a good channel for supplying the kits to healthcare providers for unauthorised use. During decoy operations conducted by PNDT teams in the state, the kits had been found sold or supplied at extremely higher prices, varying from Rs 1,500 to Rs 2,000, indicating a good profit margin.

As per law, the kits can only be used under the supervision of a gynaecologist, and no chemist can dispense them without a prescription.

Taneja, however, said the government had recently issued new directions for the sale of the kits only to approved MTP centres. “No kit can be sold by the wholesalers and clearing and forwarding (C&F) agents, etc., to retail chemists,” he said.

As per the FIR, written on the complaint of Dr Gaurav Punia, District Nodal officer, PNDT, Kaithal, Vikas Bansal, the medical representative, was allegedly storing, possessing, prescribing and distributing the kits for the past two-three years to multiple persons.

Sixty kits have been taken for sampling.

In an operation conducted in Hisar, a peddler was nabbed for supplying 25 kits after the receipt of Rs 4,100 online.

The Drugs Control Officer, Sonepat, also conducted an operation yesterday, wherein he nabbed a woman at an illegal hospital at Kharkhoda in the district, who supplied a kit for Rs 1,500 to a decoy. The owner of the hospital and the woman were arrested on Monday night.

Meanwhile, the Drugs Control Officer, Faridabad, sealed a chemist shop at Badarpur, Faridabad, which supplied a kit to a decoy on April 24.