Patiala sting operation: Ludhiana civil surgeon under scanner in sex-test racket, says VB 

Civil surgeon Dr Jasbir Singh Aulakh has been implicated in an alleged sex-determination racket, according to a press release by the Punjab Vigilance Bureau (VB).

The state VB on Wednesday uncovered an alleged inter-state sex-determination nexus and arrested four accused from Punjab and Haryana.

According to the release by the state VB, one Surendra Beniwal called the complainant, Dr Ashok, who runs a hospital in Patiala’s Patar, seeking a bribe in lieu of a “free hand” to carry gender determination. 

The release adds that Dr Aulakh was among those put under scanner by the purported call recordings recovered from Beniwal.

“The complainant doctor alleged that Surendra Beniwal, who claims to be a PNDT (pre-natal diagnostic technician) posted at Haryana’s Sirsa, allegedly contacted Dr Ashok through WhatsApp and demanded a bribe of ₹70,000 for allowing him to conduct an ultrasound for gender determination. Audio recordings of Beniwal’s demand for a bribe are available, in which Dr Bharat Bhushan, in charge PNDT, Dr Aulakh from Ludhiana and Dr SJ Singh from Sirsa are also involved,” the release added.

The VB registered a first-information report (FIR) FIR against Surendra Beniwal at vigilance flying squad-1 in Mohali. A joint team of doctors from Punjab and Haryana laid a trap with the help of a woman posing as a patient to nab the accused doctors. The teams also recovered ₹ 40,000. The team of the accused reached a private hotel in Patiala town of Patiala district to collect the bribe and were arrested.

The release said that further investigation of this matter is on and the role of other doctors involved will be investigated.

Dr Aulakh said, “The allegations are motivated and baseless.” 

“I’m open to joining any investigation into to matter. I have documented evidence to disprove the allegations,” he added.

Although Dr Aulakh’s office had called a press conference to address the issue, it was called off.