He worked for decades in Middle East for his family; after death family refuses to accept his dead body

Bengaluru, Nov 28: The probe into the foeticide racket that recently came to light in Bengaluru has led to shocking revelations as the accused told the police that they had aborted 3,000 female foetuses so far. 

Bengaluru Police Commissioner B Dayanand told reporters on Tuesday that the investigations have shown that the accused had carried out 3,000 abortions so far and in the last three months itself, 242 female foetuses were killed.

The accused had set a target of 1,000 abortions per year to make money as they charged anywhere between Rs 20,000 to Rs 25,000 per termination of pregnancy. The scam came to light when Byappanahalli police, on October 15, tried to stop a vehicle moving suspiciously. The vehicle’s driver did not stop and had to be chased by the police before being caught.

During interrogation the accused spilled the beans about the abortion racket. The police have arrested nine people till now, including two doctors and three lab technicians for their involvement in the nefarious activity.

Two of the arrested were also found to be involved in a kidnapping case, Commissioner Dayanand stated. Home Minister Dr G Parameshwara has stated that the investigation into the case will be completed soon and everything will come out in the open.

The probe also revealed that abortions were conducted at a jaggery production unit in Mandya district where the accused had set up a lab and related facilities. Mandya Assistant Commissioner Shivamurthy stated that the jaggery production unit has been seized as per the orders of the District Commissioner.

According to police sources, two doctors - Chandan Ballal and Tulasiram - were the prime movers of the foeticide racket. Dr Ballal, who ran Mata hospital in Mysuru, was arrested last Friday last from a farmhouse in KR Pet. Though most of the abortion deals were struck at Mata hospital, the procedures would be performed at an ayurveda hospital nearby. Dr Ballal’s wife Meena Ballal and receptionist are also among the nine arrested. 

The other arrested in the case are Shivalingegowda from Mysuru, Nayan Kumar and Naveen Kumar from Mandya district, and TM Veeresh of Davangere district. The police have also taken Sunanda, wife of Shivalingegowda, into custody. Another prime accused Dr Mallikarjun, and his associate Siddesh were absconding. 

At least 15 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli forces' direct strikes on Indonesian Hospital, one of the largest hospitals in the northern part of Gaza as the brutal aggression on the besieged strip enters its 45th day.

Israeli forces opened fire and launched artillery strikes on the Indonesian Hospital and the surrounding areas in the early hours of Monday.

Reports said Israeli forces are going to repeat what happened at al-Shifa Hospital and will also occupy the Indonesian Hospital as tanks surrounded the place.

Last week, Israel raided Al Shifa, Gaza’s main hospital claiming that it was a Hamas “operational center,” sharing unverified images and videos of what it said were Hamas weapons and equipment.

According to the medical team, the Indonesian Hospital was targeted without prior warning.

The strikes prompted staff at the hospital to appeal for urgent help from the United Nations and the Red Cross.

Following the strikes, the government media office in the Gaza Strip warned of another massacre that could be committed in the Indonesian Hospital.

Medical authorities in Gaza said the hospital has a capacity of 140 patients, but currently, there are more than 650 patients inside it.

The hospital is also sheltering thousands of displaced Palestinian people who sought refuge from the Israeli aggression on the besieged Gaza Strip.

Multiple casualties were also reported in an Israeli airstrike that targeted the nearby Kuwait School where hundreds of families have been sheltering.

Also on Monday, the bodies of more than 30 Palestinians were transferred to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in central Gaza after Israeli strikes hit the refugee camps of Bureij and Nuseirat.

Israeli airstrikes on Gaza have repeatedly targeted hospitals, residential buildings, mosques, and churches. Under the Geneva Convention, attacks on hospitals are strictly prohibited.

Several hospitals in Gaza City have become refuges for Palestinians hoping to be spared Israeli bombardments, which began early in October.

On October 17, hundreds of civilians were killed and injured by Israeli airstrikes on al-Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza City. The attack has been condemned as an act of genocide by many governments around the world.

The Palestinian resistance movement Hamas has urged the United Nations secretary-general to form an international committee to visit hospitals in the besieged strip to counter Israel’s “false” claims that they are used as launch pad for anti-Israel operations. Hamas has noted that the claims are aimed to “justify” Israel’s attacks on hospitals in Gaza.

The Israeli aggression has so far killed more than 13,000 Palestinians, most of them women and children, and injured more than 30,000 others.

The Kerala police have registered a case against cricketer S Sreesanth and two others based on a cheating complaint filed by a man in north Kerala’s Kannur district.

The complainant, hailing from Kannur’s Choonda, alleged that the accused, Rajiv Kumar and Venkatesh Kini, took Rs 18.70 lakh on various dates from April 25, 2019, by claiming that they would build a sports academy at Kollur in Udupi district of Karnataka, in which Sreesanth is a partner.

In his complaint, Sareesh Gopalan said he invested the money after being offered the opportunity to become a partner in the academy.

Sreesanth and the two others have been booked under IPC Section 420 (Cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property).

Sreesanth has been named as the third accused in the case.