Another nurse from Mysuru has been detained by Baiyappanahalli police in connection with the illegal sex-determination-female foeticide racket.
Usharani, 35, has been accused of helping Dr Chandan Ballal, who allegedly performed more than 900 illegal abortions in three years.
According to an officer in charge of the case, preliminary police investigations revealed that Usharani was employed by a different hospital that was not involved in the racket. She worked independently for Dr. Ballal.
He stated that the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) will carry out additional inquiries into the case. Before the CID officially took over the case, Usharani was placed under arrest.
In the case that has shocked the state, police have made 11 arrests thus far.
On October 15, after apprehending two suspects, Shivalinge Gowda from Mysuru and Nayan Kumar from Mandya, on Old Madras Road in eastern Bengaluru, police busted the racket. The two helped the police identify Veeresh and Naveen Kumar as additional suspects.
Dr. Chandan Ballal, Dr. Tulasiram, Meena, Rizma Khanum, Nisar, and Manjula were arrested after more inquiries.
According to police investigations, the gang had carried out 20–30 abortions per month, or over 900 abortions in the previous three years.
The sex-determination procedures were conducted with a handheld scanning machine in Mandya, while the abortions were performed at a private hospital in Mysuru, according to police.
