Gurgaon: Decoy operations in two parts of the city have exposed what officials suspect is an organised network illegally dispensing medical abortion kits through licensed pharmacies, fuelling female infanticide that continues to be a concern in Haryana as gains made over the decade through govt’s Beti Bachao campaign have shown signs of slipping over the last year and a half.Two men, who posed as doctors, were arrested, while three pharmacy operators were named as co-accused in separate FIRs after the health department carried out back-to-back operations on Sunday.While Vinod was arrested in a raid in Sohna, Vikas Tanwar was nabbed in a raid in Ghata. During questioning, Vinod admitted that he had studied only up to Class 10, possessed no medical qualification and had been practising from the pharmacy for the past two months.During interrogation, Vikas disclosed that he had studied up to Class 12 but had no medical qualification. He told investigators he had been treating patients from the medical store for around eight months.Separate FIRs were registered at Sohna and Sector 56 police stations under provisions of the Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act, Drugs and Cosmetics Act, National Medical Commission Act and the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.In both cases, the accused allegedly sold MTP kits without prescriptions, explained how to use the drugs and were apprehended after accepting the marked cash. Investigators are examining whether the two operations are linked to a larger network involved in the unauthorised sale of abortion medication in the state.Vinod, Vikas, Deepak Bainsla, Deepak (proprietor of New Deepak Medicose) and Surender have been booked under sections 3, 4 and 5 of the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, sections 18A, 18B and 18(c) of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, Section 34(2) of the National Medical Commission Act, and sections 125, 318(4) and 3(5) of BNS.According to the FIRs, the district PNDT cell acted on information that unqualified persons were offering abortion services and selling MTP kits from medical stores.Teams constituted by the civil surgeon conducted decoy operations using a pregnant woman, who was given marked currency notes and sent to purchase abortion medication.The first operation was conducted at Bainsla Medical Store in Sohna’s Abheypur Chowk. Investigators alleged that Vinod offered the decoy woman a PregaEnd combipack containing mifepristone and misoprostol tablets after she told him she wanted to terminate her pregnancy. He allegedly charged Rs 800 for the kit, accepted Rs 1,000 in marked currency and returned Rs 200 as balance, while also explaining how the medicine should be consumed.After the woman alerted the waiting team, officials raided the shop, recovered the marked currency notes from Vinod and seized the MTP kit supplied to the decoy. Vinod told investigators he was working under the directions of pharmacy proprietor Deepak Bainsla, who had supplied him with the recovered MTP kit.Officials said that although the pharmacy held a valid drug licence, Vinod was dispensing medicines and abortion kits in the proprietor’s absence. An investigator said, “Neither purchase records nor sale registers for the seized MTP kit could be produced. Deepak Bainsla allegedly refused to come to the shop despite being contacted by the team and has been booked in the case.”Later the same day, another team carried out a similar operation at New Deepak Medicose in Dayma Market, Sector 55, Ghata. According to the FIR, Vikas sold the decoy woman a PregaEnd MTP kit for Rs 1,000 after she sought medicine to terminate her pregnancy. He allegedly accepted the marked currency and explained the dosage before being apprehended by the raiding team. The marked notes and the MTP kit were seized.According to the FIR, Vikas alleged that the recovered MTP kit had been supplied by proprietor Deepak and that registered pharmacist Surender, a resident of Palwal, had allowed his pharmacy registration to be used at the store.According to a health department official, “Vikas admitted to renting Surender’s pharmacy licence for a monthly payment and dispensing medicines in the absence of both Deepak and Surender.” Investigators said he failed to produce purchase bills, stock registers or distribution records for the recovered MTP kit and allegedly admitted that he routinely supplied abortion kits to pregnant women. Both Deepak and Surender allegedly refused to come to the medical store despite being contacted during the raid.In both raids, officials said local residents gathered at the spot but declined requests to join the proceedings as independent witnesses. The seized MTP kits and marked currency notes were sealed and handed over to the respective police stations.Gurgaon’s sex ratio at birth (SRB) has fluctuated considerably over the past five years, while Haryana has shown a relatively stable trend with a dip in 2024. The district recorded an SRB of 921 in 2020, which fell to 908 in 2021 before improving to 925 in 2022 and 928 in 2023. However, it dropped sharply to 899 in 2024, the lowest in the six-year period, and recovered only marginally to 901 in 2025. Haryana, meanwhile, recorded an SRB of 922 in 2020, 914 in 2021, 916 in both 2022 and 2023, before slipping to 910 in 2024, its lowest level during the period, and rebounding to 923 in 2025.While Gurgaon outperformed the state in 2022 and 2023, it has remained below the state average since 2024, with a gap of 22 points in 2025. Haryana, which had the worst sex ratio at birth among all states at 834 girls per 1,000 boys during the 2011 Census period, improved its SRB to 923 by 2019 after years of aggressive enforcement under the Beti Bachao Beti Padhao campaign. The state has since seen a renewed decline, with the annual SRB falling to 910 in 2024, the lowest level since 2016.
