Illegal abortion racket busted in Rashidpura; 5 arrested

Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar: A major illegal abortion and sex determination racket was busted in the Rashidpura area early on Tuesday following a pre-dawn joint raid by the Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar Municipal Corporation and city police, leading to the arrest of five accused and the seizure of abortion drugs, medical instruments and a sonography probe.The raid was carried out after police commissioner Pravin Pawar received a tip from a resident about illegal abortions being conducted at a residential premises. Acting swiftly, Pawar deployed a team from the crime branch and Damini squad to verify the information. After confirming the illegal activity, a joint team raided Qamar Villa, Plot 16, in Rashidpura.The police said three of the accused were caught red-handed while allegedly performing an abortion without any authorised medical licence. The woman undergoing the procedure suffered a deterioration in her condition and was immediately shifted to the govt medical college and hospital for treatment.The investigation revealed that the woman had been brought to the premises around 5pm on Monday and was administered abortion pills. Her condition worsened overnight, following which she was hospitalised around 3.30am. The recovery of a sonography probe during the search has raised strong suspicion of illegal prenatal sex determination along with unauthorised medical termination of pregnancy.Those arrested people have been identified as Shaheda Parveen Syed Irshad Ahmed (51), Syed Irshad Ahmed Syed Gani (61), Nasrin Nazir Sheikh (47), Mangesh Sukhdev Thorat, and Surekha Baban Hirde (40). Police said the involvement of two more accused has also surfaced and efforts are on to trace them.Police commissioner Pravin Pawar said the operation could be "just the tip of the iceberg" and added that the source of illegally procured MTP kits was being probed to expose the wider network behind the racket.The civic raid was led by CSMC medical officer Dr Paras Mandalecha, while the police team was headed by City Chowk inspector Nirmala Pardeshi.Based on a complaint filed by CSMC health officer Dr Amarjyoti Shinde, an FIR has been registered at City Chowk police station under provisions of the Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act, the Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (PCPNDT) Act, the Maharashtra Medical Practitioners Act, and multiple sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. Police said further investigation is underway to identify the larger network involved.