The Health department on Monday sealed three scan centres and booked three doctors in Namakkal district for sex determination.

Officials of the directorate of medical and rural health services had engaged three pregnant women to trap doctors who were violating the Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (PCPNDT) Act, 1994, which forbids sex determination, reported The Times of India.

A team of investigators, including health department officials, senior doctors and police seized ultrasound machines and booked charges against Dr K Kannagi from Kumaran Polyclinic, Dr Kala Sevi from Sri Scan Centre and Dr Megha from Ganga Hospital in Namakkal.

Tiruvallaur joint director D Mohannan told The Times of India that the doctors were carrying out scanning and did not make entries about them. Moreover, they did not give certificates to patients and also deleted those images from the scanning machines.

After perusing the log from the ultrasound machines, experts found that one centre had collected an extra Rs 500 on account of the foetus being male.

According to the experts, these centres scanned about 100 pregnant women a week and were mainly visited by pregnant women of neighbouring districts.

The Health Management Information System (HMIS) report states that the sex ratio in Namakkal has come down from 868 girls per 1000 boys in 2014 to 835 girls per 1000 boys in 2016-2017, reported TOI.

However, it is worse in districts like Perambalur, Pudukottai, Tiruvarur and Nagapattinam where the sex ratio is below 750 per 1000 boys.