Hyderabad: As many as 25 people have been arrested and eight more criminal cases have been registered against Dr Athaluri Namrata and her associates in connection with the fake surrogacy scam that was unearthed last month by the Hyderabad police. The accused cheated several victims by promising surrogate babies and instead trafficked children to them.
In a press conference, north zone deputy commissioner of police Rashmi Perumal on Tuesday, August 12, said that considering the gravity of the offence, all cases related to the fake surrogacy scam will be transferred to the Central Crime Station’s special investigation team (SIT) for further investigation. The main accused in this case are Dr Namrata and her son Jayanth Krishna.
The Gopalapuram police here has registered eight more criminal cases against Dr Namrata, who is the owner of Universal Srushti Fertility center and several of her associates in the illegal surrogacy and child trafficking scam. “These individuals are accused of running an organized criminal network under the guise of fertility services, systematically exploiting vulnerable couples both emotionally and financially,” said the DCP.
After the initial case was filed on July 27 against Dr. Namratha and her associates for defrauding a couple with fake surrogacy claims, further investigations by the Hyderabad police have led to the arrest of 25 people so far, which include doctors, lab technicians, managers/supervisors, agents and birth parents of the trafficked babies. Essentially, they sold trafficked babies under the guise of fertility treatments at the Universal Srushti Fertility Centre at both its branches in Secunderabad and Visakhapatnam.
Accused took huge amounts from victims
The Hyderabad police’s investigations revealed that the accused took Rs 22 lakh from one couple promising surrogacy. However, a deceased child was shown to the couple as their child. It was found that an unconnected pregnant woman had delivered the child which later died due to health complications.
Apart from that others victim paid Dr Namrata huge sums of money of at least over 60 lakhs. The other accused persons include the fertility centre’s employees, agents and even one person named Sadanandam who was working at the state-run Gandhi Hospital for actively assisting in all the procedures at the fertility clinic in Secunderabad.
Dhanasri Santoshi, a housewife was the main agent for the surrogacy scam, who was coordinating with the clinic and operated a vast network of sub-agents for procuring babies for sale.
According to the Hyderabad police, during the delivery time, babies were procured from vulnerable mothers through the agents and handed over to clients, falsely claiming they were from their own samples. “Fake medical and DNA reports were created to support the deception. It was revealed that agents were paid Rs. 3.5 lakh for a girl and Rs 4.5 lakh for a boy, while clients were charged up to Rs. 30–40 lakh in each case,” said the north zone DP.
Moreover, Namratha previously was involved about 15 criminal cases at the Gopalapuram, Visakhapatnam, Vijayawada and Guntur police stations. Some of those cases were compromised and others are still under trial in the courts. In different cases, she had taken amounts of Rs 13 lakh, Rs 15 lakh, and more for surrogacy and related work.
“The pattern of deception highlights coordinated efforts across cities, medical malpractices, and child trafficking clearly indicating to a criminal syndicate which exploits loopholes in fertility laws. The accused Namratha created the network with her agents in many states in India. The network systematically targeted emotionally distressed couples and monetized their desperation with complete disregard for human rights, medical ethics, and the law,” said the DCO.
The police Hyderabad police has urged the public to remain cautious and avoid falling victim to fraudulent fertility or surrogacy services. Commercial surrogacy is banned as per Indian laws and any clinic which promises such surrogacy treatments must be immediately reported, added the DCP in her statement.
