On Wednesday, a couple was arrested in Tirupathur for running an unlawful sex determination centre. Sugumar (53) and his accomplice Vediyappan, an AIADMK cadre, were busted in a sting operation by officials from the Directorate of Medical Services.
The action was prompted and came into light after receiving a tip of information. The incident occurred in Kathirapatti village, which is located 8 kilometres from Tirupathur and has no appropriate roadways for large vehicles to enter.
According to sources, Sugumar acquired training from a doctor and began performing the scan on pregnant women. He used sex determination scan centres to run illegal at several locations in Tirupathur's forest areas, adopting a portable scanning machine.
M Kamala Kannan, Superintendent, Directorate of Medical Services, previously explained that around ten pregnant women were awaiting scans. The operation included officials from the Chennai Health Department, the Joint Director of Health Services in Tirupathur, the Chief Medical Officer of the Government Hospital, and others. The place where the crime used to take place was a small building beside a motor pump in the field, he was scanning.
The accused revealed seven women from Dharmapuri and three from Tiruvannamalai came to him to find out their gender, and he charged '8,000 for a scan. On a daily basis, he earns about '80,000.
He has been do this for 20 years, according to sources, and has been apprehended several times but managed to flee. According to the sources, prominent people, including Ministers, are pressuring the police to arrest him.
Meanwhile, Dr. Marimuthu, Tirupathur Joint Director of Health Services said that in the country, the scanning machine is illegal and difficult to obtain. He is still perplexed as to how he received the gadget.