Patna: The district administration has lodged FIRs against two ultrasound centres in Dhanarua and Phulwarisharif for operating without valid licences and served showcause notices on eight for alleged irregularities.

Patna civil surgeon Pramod Kumar Jha said on Friday: "The Dhanarua centre was unauthorised centre and an unnamed facility. It did not have the licence to run, but a joint team of police and health authorities caught officials red-handed conducting ultrasound procedures on a patient. The FIR was lodged against the owner on April 14. FIR on the Phulwarisharif centre, Triloki Imaging & Research Centre, was lodged on April 17. Its licence had been suspended earlier but the team found the centre functioning."

Jha said the raid teams were constituted on the order of district magistrate (DM) Kumar Ravi. It comprised block development officers, station house officers and doctors.

Among action taken on the other centres, Jha said: "Licences of two ultrasound centres in Phulwarisharif have been suspended. In Patna City, one centre's licence was suspended and another showcaused. In Danapur, two centres have been showcaused and two centres were found closed during re-inspection by the teams. Showcause notices have been served on three other establishments in Bihta. At some of the centres, unregistered doctors were found performing tests."

DM Ravi had earlier instructed the civil surgeon's office to form a three-layered inspection committee to crack down on the ultrasound centres that perform sex-determination procedures, at the block levels, sub-divisional levels and district levels.

Civil surgeon Jha said there are 567 registered ultrasound centres in Patna, apart from 11 in-vitro fertilization centres.

The DM's order was aimed at conducting raids effectively to nab people involved in the illegal practice of sex determination. Sources said earlier there were no separate committee for conducting such raids. They, however, said action taken on the 10 ultrasound centres were not related to sex-determination tests based on preliminary reports.

Ultrasound centres performing sex-determination tests is not new in the Patna district. An FIR was lodged against Hena Rani Devnath, Rajkishore Prasad and Sangeeta in 2016 for performing sex-determination tests. Madhu Kumari, member of NGO Pratham, had lodged the FIR at Alamganj police station. In November 2015, too, a central team had sealed an ultrasound centre in Patna City's Didarganj area for performing sex-determination tests.