4 Thane doctors held with abortion kits

POLICE HAD ARRESTED ANIL VERMA, A MEDICAL REPRESENTATIVE WHO WOULD BUY PREGNANCY TERMINATION KITS AND SELL THEM TO DOCTORS IN THE CITY

THANE: Four doctors were arrested on Friday night by the Naupada, after they were allegedly found to be in possession of medical termination of pregnancy (MTP) kits worth Rs9,000.
PRAFUL GANGURDE The four doctors from Thane who were arrested for illegal possession of pregnancy termination kits on Saturday. Those arrested are MG Road resident Mukesh Singh, 29, Ghodbunder Road residents Prakash Chondanikar, 51, Subhash Dubey, 47 and Sunil Prajapati, 28. They are reportedly Ayurvedic and Homeopathic practitioners.
“These kits can be bought from medical stores only with a doctor’s prescription and only a gynaecologist can buy such kits from licensed distributors. None of these doctors are gynaecologists and are not authorised to have these kits,” said a senior police official. Police have booked the doctors on charges of cheating and forgery.

The arrests were made by the police along with food and drug administration (FDA) officials and civic officials. The health department of the municipal corporation had asked the FDA officials to inspect whether any clinic or medical institution/practitioner in the city was using pregnancy termination pills without permission.
During one such inspection, the FDA officials came to know of a medical representative, Anil Verma, who would buy these kits from Suburban Medical Agency in Naupada and sell them to doctors. The FDA informed the police, who arrested Verma on June 27.
The alleged involvement of the doctors came to light when the police interrogated Verma. The doctors were produced in the court on Saturday and have been remanded in police custody till Sunday. Police have said that they suspect that it could be part of a bigger racket.