Bibhas Bhattacharyya,25 Nov 2016, Kolkata: A couple of days after Criminal Investigation Department (CID) sleuths busted a baby-selling racket involving nursing homes in Kolkata and its fringe areas, HT’s own investigation has established a clear pattern by which poor, illiterate families were targeted.

The first step was to spot a family that already had a daughter and the mother was pregnant for a second time. At least three nursing homes --- two in Kolkata and one in Baduria in North 24-Parganas --- conducted ultra-sonography tests on the pregnant women. They were invariably told that a girl child was in the womb even if the tests showed otherwise.

In most cases, the family would opt for an abortion. Doctors stepped in and advised them against such a step as this could be risky for the mother. The nursing homes then told the families that they would take care of the baby. Sources told HT that in most cases, the nursing homes would even offer to shelter the women till she delivered.

After the delivery, in most cases, the mothers were told that they had given birth to a stillborn. A death certificate would also be issued by a doctor.

Investigators have found that most of the births took place at the Sohan Nursing Home in North 24-Parganas. A few births also took place at the Sree Krishna Nursing Home on College Street and South View Nursing Home in Behala.

TK Biswas, the kingpin of the racket, is a quack associated with Sohan was in charge of the entire operation. And Dr Santosh Samanta, now in custody, of Sree Krishna Nursing Home issued the death certificates. He also issued the birth certificates before selling off the baby. Dr Samata reportedly made a neat Rs 60,000 for each baby.

The babies then were delivered to an NGO, Subodh Sarkar Smriti Memorial, run by Satyajit Sinha and Utpala Byapari. The NGO sold them to childless couples in the country and abroad.

The cops have found that newborn girls were sold for about Rs 80,000 and Rs 1 lakh if their complexion was dark, and between Rs 1 lakh to Rs 1.5 lakh if they were fair. Baby boys were sold for Rs 2 lakh and more.

“The kingpin of the racket, TK Biswas, started off as a tout who would take pregnant women to various nursing homes for abortion. Gradually, he started working as an Operation Theatre (OT) assistant and picked up skills to conduct abortion and delivery process. He used to work out of Sohan,” said a police officer associated with the probe. Recently, Biswas set up a nursing home of his own at Bagula in Nadia district.

TOTAL BABIES SOLD

About 30 so far, the figure is likely to go up

TOTAL ARREST SO FAR 13 ESTABLISHMENTS NAILED SO FAR Three nursing homes (two in Kolkata, one in North 24-Parganas) ONE NGO (in North 24 Parganas)

MISSING Two doctors (one of whom is a former gynaecologist of RG Kar Hospital)

UNDER SCANNER About 10 more nursing homes in Kolkata and suburbs.

With the busting of the baby sale racket, hundreds of private nursing homes in Kolkata and the districts are under the government’s scanner. With the CM in charge of the health department, the crackdown is likely to be hard. All records, right from child deliveries to credentials of doctors attached to the homes, are to be scanned for the minutest detail, senior officials at Nabanna said. There are more than 300 such nursing homes in Kolkata and its outskirts, including Howrah, Hooghly, North 24-Parganas and South 24-Parganas.

Now, the state health department will bring hundreds of nursing homes mushrooming in the city and districts under its scanner.

Hardly 48 hours after the racket was busted, the health department has decided to scan records relating to details of delivery cases and credentials of concerned doctors who perform caesarean or normal deliveries in these nursing homes.

“Police are investigating the case in which several nursing homes are involved. We will also explore whether the health department has any scope to take separate legal action against these errant nursing homes as per the Clinical Establishment Act. We will cooperate with the sleuths investigating the case,” Dr BR Satpathi, director of health services, told HT.

“The racket has shocked us. We have plans to bring all nursing homes and even private hospitals under the scanner of our medical establishment wing. The chief medical officers of health (CMOH) in districts will be alerted,” Satpathi said.

According to some officials of the health department, there are more than 300 nursing homes in the city and outskirts mainly Howrah, Hooghly, North 24-Parganas and South 24-Parganas.

“Many of these nursing homes do not regularly submit documents in connections with operation theatres (O Ts), number of doctors and their credentials and nurses etc to the health department while seeking renewal of licenses. From now we will have to keep watch on the number of deliveries, maternal deaths or infant mortality rates,” one of the officials said.

“We will also ask the nursing homes to give reports if any medical terminations of pregnancies are carried out. The reasons for this procedure will also have to be spelled out. In some small nursing homes in remote districts, quacks perform deliveries. There has to be accountability,” he added requesting anonymity.

The state Criminal Investigation Department (CID) has exposed the racket involving the trafficking of newborns from a nursing home at Baduria in North 24-Parganas.

The tentacles of the racket spread to Kolkata on Wednesday with arrest of four persons from two other nursing homes in the city. CID is also keeping its eye on 10 other nursing homes in the city and suburbs.

HOW THE RACKET WORKED

1 NURSING homes targeted pregnant women from poor and illiterate families, especially with those that already had a daughter.

2 USG tests were conducted on them and they were told they were carrying another female foetus, thereby unnerving them. 3 THE women were assured to keep the foetus and given some money.

4 THE delivery was done in those nursing homes and the family were told that the it was dead, often much to the relief of the poor couple.