Three doctors, four others taken into custody
the goan I network
BELAGAVI
In a bid to probe the possible involvement of some medical practitioners from Goa, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh in the foeticide racket, Maharashtra is likely to seek help of its neighbouring states as part of investigations into the case.
While initiating an inquiry into the incident, Maharashtra’s health minister is expected to seek Goa’s cooperation in investigation of a few hospitals in Goa to ascertain the extent of the foeticide racket.
Homeopath Dr Babasaheb Khidrapure and his wife, who run a hospital at Mhaisal, and five more persons, including two more doctors, have been taken into custody by Sangli police.
While Dr Khidrapure was arrested from Belagavi by Maharashtra police along with his wife earlier this week, five persons including two doctors from Belagavi and Vijaypura (Bijapur) district have been also taken into custody by Maharashtra police.
The racket, which has rocked Maharashtra and north Karnataka, came into light after a 26-year-woman died allegedly during an abortion in the hospital.
Maharashtra Health Minister Deepak Sawant, who along with Agriculture Minister Sadabhau Khot visited Mhaisal to take stock of the situation, assured that his government would not spare any doctors or others involved in the racket.
Sawant told media persons that his government has decided to question some doctors from bordering districts of Goa, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh in connection with the foeticide racket.
Sangli district police also arrested Dr Srihari Krishna Ghodke from Kagwad, Dr Ramesh Devgirkar from Vijaypura (Bjapur), Sunil Kashinath Khedekar from Madhavnagar, Umesh Salunke and Kanchana Kuntinath Roze, both from Belagavi district, while two others were taken into custody from Kagwad in Belagavi district.
Meanwhile, five special police teams formed by Maharashtra police headed by Sangli Superintendent of Police Dattatray Shinde have been carrying out raids on hospitals in Belagavi district.
The police have recovered four ultrasound equipments allegedly used for sex determination and are expected to make enquiries at a few hospitals in Goa in this regard.
