Within hours of the Hyderabad police busting the illegal baby selling and fake surrogacy racket in a Secunderabad-based fertility centre, the police and medical department officials of Andhra Pradesh raided its branch at Vijayawada on Monday only to find it closed and doctors absconding, officials said.
NTR district medical and health officer M Suhasini, along with a team of officials and doctors inspected the Universal Srushti Fertility and Research Centre, located near Benz Circle in Vijayawada.
This fertility centre is a branch of the main facility located Secunderabad headed by Dr Athaluri Namratha who has since been arrested. It is being managed by Dr V Karuna. “The Vijayawada centre was operating till Sunday, but this morning, it was found locked and none of the doctors, including Dr Karuna and her associate Dr Vaishali was available there,” Suhasini told reporters, adding both the doctors had gone absconding since the Hyderabad illegal child sale racket was busted.
The team, however, called the office staff and verified the registration details and other records. “During inquiry, it was found that the management of the centre obtained permission from the government for running a health care centre under the name ‘Universal Health Care Services’, but was running the fertility centre,” Suhasini said.
She said the centre does not currently have valid operational permission. The centre’s licence expired in 2023 and was initially valid only from 2018 to 2023.
{{/usCountry}}She said the centre does not currently have valid operational permission. The centre’s licence expired in 2023 and was initially valid only from 2018 to 2023.
{{/usCountry}}The team, which was accompanied by Vijayawada central zone assistant commissioner of police K Damodar and Machavaram police inspector Ch Prakash, also noticed that Dr Karuna not only got the fertility centre closed, but also hospital board removed. “Even the cars and ambulance were taken away,” the inspector said.
“So far, we have not received any formal complaint from anyone with regard to illegal surrogacy or child trafficking in this branch. We are, however, inquiring on the activities of the fertility centre,” Prakash said.
According to Hyderabad (north zone) deputy commissioner of police S Rashmi Perumal, Dr Namrata, a resident of Vijayawada, had started a fertility centre in 1998 in Secunderabad and later expanded to locations such as Vijayawada, Visakhapatnam, Kondapur, Kolkata, and Odisha.
She reportedly charged ₹30–40 lakh from each couple seeking children and, instead of genuine surrogacy procedures, purchased babies through brokers and handed them over as surrogate births.
Namratha, along with associates and agents targeted vulnerable women particularly those seeking abortions and lured them into continuing pregnancies in exchange for money. These newborns were then passed off as children conceived through surrogacy, misleading clients into believing the babies were biologically theirs.
She said more than 10 cases have been registered previously so far at Maharanipeta PS, II Town PS (Visakhapatnam), Gopalapuram PS (Hyderabad), and Kothapeta PS (Guntur).
Hyderabad district medical and health officer Dr J Venkati said the medical and health department had cancelled the registration of the involved fertility clinic in 2021 itself but the accused continued to operate the place from the building and putting the name of another certified doctor Dr. Suri Shrimati on the official letter pads of the clinic.
Meanwhile, Telangana health minister Damodar Rajanarasimha said in a statement that instructions had been issued to the authorities to conduct a thorough investigation and take strict action against those responsible. “We have also ordered intensified inspections of all fertility centres across the state,” he said.