Sperm samples stolen from bank

AURANGABAD/MUMBAI: It's a case that stretches the limits of credulity. More than a 100 sperm samples were stolen from a sperm bank in Aurangabad some time last week. The theft came to light when the sperm samples found their way to Mumbai where some doctors called up Cryobank, run by the Jalna-based firm Cryocell India to cross-check certain details like the history of the donors. The man carrying the frozen sperm serum, Anil Punjaba Mohite, perhaps unaware of the value of his unusual booty, had offered to sell the 101 samples for a mere Rs 25,000. Anil Mohite has been arrested and is being brought back to Aurangabad, the police said. "Anil Mohite turned out to be a close relative of Sunil Mohite, a Cryobank laboratory worker at Aurangabad who has been detained for interrogation," said investigating officer P S Bolkar, adding, "It is a very different sort of theft case." Infertility experts in Mumbai, most of whom have their own sperm banks, point out that it's not easy to "rob" samples from a sperm bank. "Which doctor in Mumbai would want to buy the sperm samples? Most infertility clinics have their own sperm banks," pointed out Dr Aniruddha Malpani. Dr Indira Hinduja, who is credited with delivering India's first test-tube baby, said her clinic has its own sperm bank "for and of the patients only". "We don't take samples from outside given the fear about HIV," she added. Dr Gautam Allahbadia said, "The samples are stored in liquid nitrogen, which is a dangerous compound to handle. One would need special gear and gloves to handle liquid nitrogen. Moreover, the entire storage container would weigh nothing less than 150 kg." Even if the person was carrying a small container, there is the issue of replenishing the highly unstable liquid nitrogen. A special licence is needed to acquire liquid nitrogen. "The incident doesn't make sense to me. Why would any infertility specialist or gynaceologist buy a sample that has a limited shelf life and without proper records," asked Dr Aniruddha Malpani. "Why would someone rob a commodity that is so hard to sell?" However, the theft continues to worry the bank. "We are caught in a very difficult situation, as we do not know how many samples have been smuggled out of the laboratory," Cryobank Suryakant Hayatnagarkar told