Man held for running illegal sex determination test centre in Tirupattur

A 60-year-old quack was arrested for running an illegal sex determination test centre in Elaruvi village near Tirupattur town on Thursday.

Police said the arrested person was identified as G. Sugumar, a native of Tirupattur. Based on an alert to Tirupattur SP V. Shyamala Devi, special police teams had been formed to nab suspects involved in sex determination tests in the district.

Police intercepted an autorickshaw in Paradeshipatti village near Tirupattur town and found eight expectant mothers from Dharmapuri and Krishnagiri districts in the vehicle. They told police that they were in search of a clinic run by the arrested quack for the test. They had paid ₹15,000 to ₹20,000 for sex determination and ₹25,000 to ₹30,000 for abortion.

Based on their inputs, police arrested five agents from their hideouts in town. Special teams were searching for quack Sugumar, key suspect, who was on the run. After police located his hideout through mobile phone signals, they arrested him at his illegal centre.

According to police, quack Sugumar used to rent a house in a remote village to run the illegal sex determination centre in order to evade surveillance by police and health officials. A case was registered under the Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques Act, 1994. Later, he was lodged in sub-jail in Tirupattur town. A probe is underway.