Chandigarh, July 11 (IANS): A private doctor in Haryana's Sonipat district was booked by police on Saturday after a team of health officials caught him red-handed while conducting an illegal sex determination test.

The action against the doctor followed a raid conducted by health department officers on his clinic, Bhatia Nursing Home, in Ganaur town of Sonipat district, 175 km from here.

"Following a tip off, a team of Haryana health department raided a nursing home in Ganaur and caught the doctor who used to conduct illegal sex determination test. His ultrasound machine was sealed and a case was also registered against him," a health department spokesman said on Saturday.

The doctor was trapped by the team by sending a pregnant woman as a decoy customer.

"The team, with the help of a middleman, sent a woman to the nursing home with currency notes bearing signatures. The doctor demanded Rs.10,000 for conducting the test and said that report would be given on Sunday. When the woman came out of the nursing home, the team conducted a raid and recovered the currency notes," the spokesman said.

"While checking the records, it was found that various irregularities were committed while filling up the forms of women visiting the nursing home. The ultrasound machine was sealed. A case has been registered against the accused doctor for violating the Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (Regulation and Prevention of Misuse) Act," he added.

Sex determination tests are banned under the PNDT Act.

Haryana has the worst sex ratio among all states in the country with just 877 females per 1,000 males.