Illegal sex determination centre found at cattle shed in Maharashtra's Jalna; 2 held

Jalna (Maharashtra): Police have busted an illegal foetal sex determination and abortion racket operating from a cattle shed in Maharashtra's Jalna district and arrested two persons, officials said on Thursday.

Those arrested include the owner of a pathology lab in the district and a Class 12 pass youth who were caught red-handed while conducting sex determination tests on Wednesday, they said.

Neither of the arrested individuals is a qualified doctor, the police said.

Acting on a tip-off, a team of police and health personnel raided the premises located at a cattle shed in a field at Nanja Wadi village in Bhokardan tehsil, an official said.

The two accused were caught conducting sex determination tests. During the raid, three women were also found waiting for tests, he said.

The authorities seized some medical testing material, a portable machine, abortion pills and mobile phones from the site, the official said.

According to police, the clandestine operation of foetal sex determination and illegal abortion had been running for several months inside the tin-shed cattle enclosure, located adjacent to a Zilla Parishad school in the Gawliwadi area of the village.

The main accused, identified as Satish Sonawane, is a Class 12 pass and hails from Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar district. He already has similar cases registered against him in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, Beed and Jalna districts, the official said.

Besides Sonawane, the police also arrested Keshav Gawande, the owner of the Tejas Pathology Lab, located in Bhokardan tehsil of Jalna district, he said.

The accused had shifted the sex determination facility to the cattle shed to avoid public attention and had been operating it for six months, the official said.

Earlier, in July 2024, authorities found an illegal abortion centre in Bhokardan tehsil and arrested 28 persons, including doctors, from Jalna and Buldhana districts.