Hyderabad Police bust illegal surrogacy racket; doctor, 9 others arrested

Hyderabad, July 27 Hyderabad Police have busted illegal surrogacy and baby selling racket with the arrest of a doctor and owner of a fertility centre and nine others.

Dr. Athaluri Namratha alias Pachipala Namratha, owner of Universal Shristhi Fertility Centre in Secunderabad, was arrested on allegations of conducting a large-scale illegal surrogacy and fertility scam.

S. Rashmi Perumal, Deputy Commissioner of Police (North Zone) told mediapersons on Sunday that the racket came to light after a couple complained lodged a complaint with the police after DNA tests revealed that the child born through a surrogate arranged by the fertility centre was not biologically related to them.

Gopalapuram Police, with the support of the Medical and Health Department, busted the racket and arrested the prime accused and several of her associates.

Dr. Athaluri Namratha, aged 64, operates fertility centres under the name Universal Srushti Fertility Centres in Vijayawada, Secunderabad, Visakhapatnam, and Kondapur.

The other accused are Pachipala Jayanth Krishna; C. Kalyani Atchayyamma, manager at Universal Srushti Fertility Centre; Gollamandala Chenna Rao, lab technician and embryologist; Nargula Sadanandam, anaesthesia Specialist and working doctor at Gandhi Hospital; Dhanasri Santoshi, Mohammed Ali Adik and Nasreen Begum.

According to the police, the complainant couple, who hails from Rajasthan, had approached Universal Srushti Fertility Centre, Secunderabad in August 2024 for fertility and IVF consultation.

The couple was directed to another branch of the clinic at Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh for collection of specimens and were told that the surrogate will be arranged by the clinic and the embryo would be transplanted to the surrogate.

Over the course of nine months, the couple made several payments to the clinic and update as to the baby’s health were given by the clinic.

In June 2025, the complainant was informed that the surrogate had delivered a baby boy via C-section in Visakhapatnam and that they should pay extra amount for the delivery charges and collect the baby from Visakhapatnam.

The complainant reached Visakhapatnam and the baby boy was handed over to her along with documentation which showed registration of the child as having been born to the couple themselves creating a false birth certificate document. Overall, the clinic took over 35 lakh from the couple as consultation charges for the procedures.

Later, the couple went in for DNA test which revealed that the child’s DNA did not match theirs at all. They tried to get in touch with the clinic but they were refused any documentation and were threatened which prompted them to approach the police.

The DCP said Dr Namratha began medical practice in 1995 and transitioned into fertility and IVF services from 1998. Over the years, she expanded into unethical and illegal practices, collecting Rs 20 – Rs 30 lakh from each client under false promises.

She, 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.

Those arrested include biological parents of the baby. Native of Assam, they were living in Hyderabad and the delivery was planned at Visakhapatnam. After taking the baby, a paltry sum was handed over to them and the couple was sent back to Hyderabad.

Police conducted simultaneous raids at Hyderabad and Visakhapatnam clinics.

The clinic at Gopalapuram was seized and large-scale equipment was found at the area which substantiated the facts that the accused was conducting IVF treatments, creating live embryos, doing real medical procedures without any proper license.

Any clients who protested were intimidated and threatened by her son (advocate by profession) who ran an office from the same premises and managed financial transactions of his mother.

The investigations revealed that more than 10 cases have been registered against them in the past in Visakhapatnam, Hyderabad and Guntur.

The Medical and Health Department had cancelled the registration of the involved fertility clinic previously but the accused continued to operate the place from the building and putting the name of another certified doctor Suri Shrimati on the official letter pads of the clinic.

Police seized medical equipment and medicines being used at the clinic, mobile phones and digital devices used in the commission of the crime, case records and surrogacy documents.

The investigation is ongoing, and further legal action is being pursued, added the DCP.

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