The Maharashtra Police have arrested a homoeopathic doctor in connection with the 19 aborted female foetuses found dumped in a village in Sangli district. Babasaheb Khidrapure allegedly conducted the illegal abortions at his hospital in Sangli. The police also suspect that five other medical practitioners were involved in the abortions, reported Hindustan Times.

Khidrapure, who was detained in Belgaum in Karnataka on Monday night, has been booked for violating the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, Bombay Nursing Home Registration Act and the Medical Practitioners Act. District Civil Surgeon Dr Sanjay Salunkhe told The Indian Express that Khidrapure was not authorised to perform the abortions as he only has a bachelor’s degree in homoeopathy.

Khidrapure ran Bharti Hospital, where the illegal abortions were conducted. The hospital had two basement rooms where Khidrapure terminated pregnancies in advanced stages, reported CNN News-18. The clinic is located about a kilometre away from the stream from where the foetuses were discovered on Sunday, according to The Indian Express.

The police had found the foetuses while investigating the case of a 26-year-old pregnant woman who had died during an abortion procedure on February 28 in Mhaisal village. A case was registered against the woman’s husband and the doctor.

On Monday, the Maharashtra government had said that it suspected a cross-border abortion racket and would take up the matter with Karnataka. “Maharashtra government will take up the issue of female foeticide with Karnataka to prevent such cases, especially after the Sangli incident,” state Health Minister Deepak Sawant had said.