India, June 27 -- An illegal prenatal sex determination racket operating in Uttar Pradesh's Meerut district was busted, and five people were booked following a decoy operation, an official said on Friday.

The operation was carried out jointly by the Gurugram Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (PCPNDT) Act cell and the Meerut health department after Gurugram civil surgeon Dr Lokveer Singh received a tip-off about an alleged network offering illegal fetal sex determination.

According to officials, the racket was operating through a diagnostic centre in Sardhana, Meerut, where pregnant women were allegedly charged between Rs.15,000 and Rs.20,000 to determine the sex of the fetus. The network also facilitated illegal abortio...