Cuttack: Police in Odisha’s Cuttack district arrested a homeopathy practitioner for allegedly running an unlicensed abortion clinic near Sunapal Bazaar in Badamba area for nearly 12 years.
The accused, identified as Jayant Bastia, was caught red-handed while performing an illegal abortion. A woman, who was in a critical condition, was rescued during the raid led by Sub-Inspector Biswa Bandita Sahoo, who posed as a patient seeking an abortion to gather evidence.
“I received a call from the Additional Collector ab
out the illegal abortion clinic. Accordingly, I accompanied the police during the raid. He ran a clinic there. The name plate said that he holds a Bachelor of Homoeopathic Medicine and Surgery (BHMS) degree,” said medical officer, Badamba, Dolagovinda Jena.
Speaking to the media, Badamba police station IIC Parmananda Nayak said that police were tipped off about the illegal clinics. “A female cop was sent there to verify the allegation, following which the raid was conducted on the direction of the SP,” he said.
The IIC further stated that the accused failed to produce any valid certification or registration to operate a clinic or conduct medical procedures.
Several medical instruments from the clinic, including a manually operated suction machine, surgical dilators, operation tools, injections, and medicines. It is also being suspected that sex determination tests were also being carried out at the clinic.