BAGALKOT: Women health and revenue department officials launched a joint undercover operation posing as prospective clients and helped bust an alleged sex determination and foeticide racket that was being run in a village along the Maharashtra border, officials said.
The team travelled to Jadar Babaladi village in Maharashtra’s Jat taluk where Kavita introduced them to Nikhil Teli, 23. Officials said that kingpin is on the run Nikhil reportedly took them to a farmhouse, where his mother, Danakka Teli, allegedly demanded Rs 2,000 for the test. Danakka then directed them to Karajagi village, about 20 km away, where a portable scanning machine was available.
Nikhil introduced them to Kavita Godekar, who agreed to perform the test using the portable scanning machine. Stay updated with the latest Hubballi news.
Officials said the accused identified Sanjaya Waghmore alias Patil, an alleged quack, as the suspected kingpin. Jamkhandi assistant commissioner Shweta said the operation was the first instance in which women officers posed as clients to help police bust such a racket. Police detained Kavita Badannavar, an alleged agent, who provided details of the network and claimed pregnancies of three to four women had recently been terminated. The district administration formed a team comprising Jamkhandi assistant commissioner Shweta Beedikar, Rabakavi-Banahatti tahsildar Girish Swadi, deputy director (Medical Act) Shobha A, DHO Dr Suvarana Kulkarni and Manu from Arogya Soudha, Bengaluru. The officials posed as clients seeking a sex determination test, with Shweta playing the role of a pregnant woman, Kulkarni posing as her mother-in-law and Shobha as her sister-in-law. The team paid the money and promised more if the test was conducted immediately. Undercover officials who were travelling with the team raided the premises and seized the scanning machine and other equipment allegedly used for sex determination tests. Waghmore is on the run. A case has been registered against Nikhil Teli, Danakka Teli and Kavita Godekar at Umadi police station. Police are also probing Kavita Badannavar’s alleged role and the wider network. Download the TOI App.