Over 24,000 Abortion Kits Worth Rs 1.5 Crore Seized In Gujarat; 8 Arrested

The accused were apprehended by the FDCA from multiple locations in the state, including Ahmedabad and Surat, as part of an operation carried out on Friday and Saturday, officials said.

The Food and Drugs Control Administration (FDCA) in Gujarat has seized 24,363 pregnancy termination kits worth over Rs 1.5 crore along with narcotic and psychotropic drugs that were being sold illegally, and eight persons have been arrested in this connection, officials said on Sunday. The accused were apprehended by the FDCA from multiple locations in the state, including Ahmedabad and Surat, as part of an operation carried out on Friday and Saturday, they said. While seven accused have been charged under the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, another one has been arrested by the Gujarat police under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act after drugs, including three lakh vials of oxytocin, were found in his possession, FDCA Commissioner Hemant Koshia said. He said that such abortion kits could be sold only on the prescription of gynaecologists as per the provisions of the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act.