Morena, Oct 18 (IANS) A peon at a private clinic was caught red-handed while conducting an illegal fetal sex determination test by posing as a doctor in Madhya Pradesh’s Morena district, police said on Saturday.

The accused was identified as Sanju Sharma (30), a peon at the District Education Department.

According to police, the accused was arrested in a joint raid by the Health Department teams from Gwalior and Morena, along with social worker Meena Sharma, near Gadora Pura on Joura Road in Morena city late Friday.

Morena’s Chief Medical and Health Officer, Padmesh Upadhyay, told media persons on Saturday that the raid was conducted under the direction of Morena District Collector Lokesh Jangid following a tip-off.

“A decoy woman was sent along with a policewoman in plain clothes to trap the accused, he said. The team found Sharma with a portable ultrasound machine and caught him red-handed as soon as he started the process,” he added.

Upadhyay further informed that a case was registered at the Civil Lines police station, and the machine was seized.

The accused has been handed over to the local area police.

During the investigation, the police found that the accused person was employed as a peon with the District Education Department and was posted at Bilgaon Middle School.

However, Sharma was suspended in November 2024 after being found involved in illegal activities.

A senior official in the Health Department told IANS that the accused had been under surveillance for the last six months after a man was caught in Jaipur selling a portable ultrasound machine.

The man arrested in Jaipur (Rajasthan) had then told police that Sharma had been conducting illegal fetal sex determination tests. “Since then, he has been under surveillance and was caught red-handed. Police are carrying out further investigation,” the official added.

Notably, identifying the sex of the fetus for non-medical reasons is illegal.

–IANS

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