A Hyderabad-based fertility doctor allegedly charged couples between ₹20 lakh and ₹30 lakh for IVF or surrogacy procedures that were either never carried out or resulted in babies with no biological connection to the intended parents.
Published Jul 27, 2025 | 8:03 PM ⚊ Updated Jul 27, 2025 | 8:03 PM
Dr Namaratha
Synopsis: A Hyderabad-based fertility clinic, Universal Srushti Fertility Centre, run by 64-year-old Dr Namratha, is at the centre of an alleged major child trafficking and surrogacy fraud racket, with police uncovering the use of fake procedures, forged documents, and coerced pregnancies to deceive childless couples.
When a couple approached a fertility clinic in Hyderabad, placing their trust in a 64-year-old expert with “25 years of experience” to help realise their dream of parenthood after years of heartbreak, they did not expect to be coerced into surrogacy – despite both being medically fit and willing to conceive.
Nor did they expect to be duped of over ₹30 lakh in the process, and most shockingly, to be handed an infant who, they would later learn, was biologically unrelated to them.
Yet that is exactly what their complaint to the Gopalapuram police alleges.
Based on the complaint, police have registered a case under Sections 61, 316, 335, 336, and 340 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) Act, 2023, as well as Sections 38, 39, and 40 of the Surrogacy (Regulation) Act, 2021, against Dr Athaluri Namratha – also known as Pachipala Namratha – aged 64, owner of Universal Srushti Fertility Centres, along with nine others, including the infant’s biological parents.
A subsequent extensive investigation uncovered a wider network of clinics across Telangana – including in Secunderabad, Vijayawada, Visakhapatnam and Kondapur – all operating under the Universal Srushti Fertility banner, according to police.
“This was just the tip of the iceberg,” said S Rashmi Perumal, Deputy Commissioner of Police, North Zone, Hyderabad Commissionerate. “It was a human trafficking racket.”
Originally from Rajasthan, the couple’s ordeal began after relocating to Secunderabad, hoping to access better medical care following two miscarriages.
In August 2024, they approached the clinic for IVF treatment. Despite medical tests confirming that both were medically fit to conceive, Dr Namratha insisted on surrogacy, according to the complaint. The doctor reportedly cited her “25 years of experience” to assure them that surrogacy would be “more reliable.”
She promised a safe and transparent process using their own sperm and eggs. The complaint states that the couple were assured their gametes (semen and eggs) would be used to form embryos, which would be screened and implanted into a surrogate arranged by the clinic.
The clinic also allegedly promised “complete documentation” and a “healthy child delivered after DNA confirmation.”
Trusting the process, the couple agreed to proceed with the treatment – at a cost of ₹30 lakh. Of this, ₹15 lakh was transferred via bank, and another ₹15 lakh was paid in cash.
The complaint notes that the couple were told the cash would go towards payments for the surrogate mother.
In September 2024, they were called to the clinic’s Visakhapatnam branch. Their gametes were collected that day, the complaint states.
Meanwhile, payments continued: ₹5 lakh by cheque, followed by further instalments after the clinic claimed that a surrogate had been identified and an embryo successfully implanted.
On 25 September, the couple were told that a healthy embryo had been implanted in the surrogate and that they were awaiting confirmation of pregnancy.
Believing this, they continued making payments.
Pregnancy was later confirmed over a phone call, and the clinic shared limited updates. However, the complaint states that the couple never received original medical reports, nor were they allowed to retain digital copies.
They were often made to leave their phones outside Dr Namratha’s office, the complaint alleges.
Between December 2024 and May 2025, they made several additional payments: ₹4 lakh in December, ₹5 lakh in March, ₹2 lakh in May, and ₹4 lakh in the final instalment – bringing the total to ₹30.2 lakh.
As the due date approached, the couple requested that the husband’s DNA sample be collected in advance, as he was scheduled to travel abroad.
“Dr Namratha unreasonably refused, which raised our suspicion,” the complaint states. Concerned, they independently submitted a swab sample to DNA Forensics Lab in Delhi on 22 May 2025.
On 4 June, the clinic informed the husband that the surrogate had gone into labour and a C-section was required. A staff member named Kalyani claimed that the surrogate’s husband was “blackmailing them for ₹3.5 lakh.”
When the couple objected to the demand, they were shown a document signed by Dr Namratha, citing “possible additional charges in case of a C-section.”
“We agreed to a maximum of ₹2 lakh,” the complaint states.
The baby boy was born on 5 June. The wife was taken to a semi-constructed building in Visakhapatnam, presented as the clinic’s “new location,” and then to Lotus Hospital.
“There, they showed me a newborn baby and handed him over to me, saying he was ours,” the complaint states.
But when the complainant asked for the promised DNA report and supporting documents, the clinic abruptly went silent.
“I was shocked to learn that no DNA test had been done before registering the baby in our names,” the wife states in the complaint.
Kalyani attempted to reassure them.
“She assured me the baby was ours and took DNA samples from both me and the baby,” the complaint states. But the couple did not wait. They returned to Delhi and arranged a three-way DNA test. The result was devastating.
“The report revealed the horrifying truth: the baby was not biologically related to either me or my husband,” the complaint states. They informed Dr Namratha via WhatsApp on 19 June and shared the DNA report. She initially responded – but then blocked them.
“When we asked her to return the child to the biological parents and revoke the false registration, she also blocked my husband’s number,” the complaint states.
On 23 June, the couple visited the clinic in person.
“Dr Namratha verbally admitted that a ‘mistake’ had happened and asked for time to resolve it,” the complaint states. They returned the next day.
“After hours of waiting, we found she had fled the premises and was no longer answering calls,” the complaint states.
The couple now fear their own genetic material was “misused, sold, or disposed of illegally,” and that the surrogacy process may have been entirely fabricated.
“[Dr Namratha] and her associates deliberately misrepresented facts, fabricated a surrogacy process, and handed over a child unrelated to us. This is clear criminal intent involving fraud, cheating, breach of trust, extortion, and trafficking of human reproductive material,” the complaint states.
Dr Namratha began her medical career in 1995 and entered the fertility sector around 1998, according to police. Over the years, she expanded her operations into what police described as a multi-crore scam spanning multiple cities.
She allegedly charged couples between ₹20 lakh and ₹30 lakh for IVF or surrogacy procedures that were either never carried out, or resulted in babies with no biological connection to the intended parents.
“She and her agents specifically targeted vulnerable women, particularly those seeking abortions,” said Deputy Commissioner of Police (North Zone) S Rashmi Perumal. “They were lured into continuing their pregnancies in exchange for money. Once the babies were born, they were passed off as surrogate children to unsuspecting couples who believed they were receiving their own biological child.”
In this case, police say a couple from Assam – now residing in Hyderabad – was identified through a network of agents and manipulated into carrying the pregnancy. The delivery was arranged in Visakhapatnam.
After the birth, the baby was taken from the couple, who were reportedly paid a small sum and sent back to Hyderabad. Both biological parents have since been arrested on charges of selling the baby.
“After the delivery was arranged in Visakhapatnam, they were given just ₹80,000 to ₹90,000 and sent away,” the DCP said.
“The sperm and egg were just thrown,” said DCP Perumal. “The couple was told they would have a child through IVF and surrogacy. But instead, a child born to another woman was handed over to them.”
On Saturday, 26 July, simultaneous raids were conducted at the clinic’s Hyderabad and Visakhapatnam branches, leading to multiple arrests. At the Gopalapuram facility, officials from the Medical and Health Department assisted in sealing the premises.
Inside, investigators discovered extensive medical equipment, indicating that full-scale IVF procedures – including embryo creation and implantation – were being carried out without proper licensing.
Police also revealed that clients who questioned or resisted the clinic’s demands were allegedly threatened by Dr Namratha’s 25-year-old son, Pachipala Jayanth Krishna. A practising advocate, he is believed to have overseen finances and legal intimidation from within the same premises – in what police describe as a “family-run racket.”
The third accused is C Kalyani Atchayyamma (40), a manager at Universal Srushti Fertility Centre and a resident of Visakhapatnam.
The fourth accused, Gollamandala Chenna Rao (37), worked as a lab technician and embryologist. The fifth, Nargula Sadanandam (41), is an anaesthetist affiliated with Gandhi Hospital in Hyderabad.
The sixth accused, Dhanasri Santoshi (38), is a native of Assam. Police allege she acted as an agent, responsible for identifying and persuading the biological parents involved in the current case.
The ninth and tenth accused are also from Assam: Mohammed Ali Adik (38), the biological father of the baby, and his wife, Nasreen Begum (25), the child’s biological mother. She is currently a housewife. Both have been booked for allegedly selling the infant.
Notably, Dr Namratha is neither a certified medical professional nor was her fertility clinic operating with legal authorisation, according to Deputy Commissioner of Police S Rashmi Perumal.
The clinic’s operation theatre had reportedly been ordered shut as early as 2021, with its registration cancelled by the Medical and Health Department. Yet it continued to function, using the name of an elderly registered doctor — Dr Suri Shrimati — on its prescriptions and letterheads.
“Our preliminary inquiry indicates that the name of this doctor, who is indeed a registered medical practitioner, was likely misused,” said the DCP. “She is quite elderly and may be unaware that her identity was being exploited. We are verifying this angle.”
Despite past action, Dr Namratha’s name features in at least 10 earlier FIRs, filed across police stations in Maharanipeta and II Town in Visakhapatnam, Gopalapuram in Hyderabad, and Kothapeta in Guntur. Still, she continued to run the clinic even after repeated licence cancellations and enforcement warnings.
During recent raids at the Gopalapuram and Visakhapatnam branches, officials recovered medical equipment used for IVF procedures, embryo creation – and notably, devices suspected to be used for sex determination, a practice banned under Indian law.
“We also found devices used for sex determination. This is a serious offence,” said DCP Perumal. “We will be registering separate cases under the PCPNDT Act and conducting a wider crackdown on such violations.”
A forensic sweep of the premises revealed that full-fledged IVF and gynaecological procedures – including embryo creation, specimen collection, and even abortions – were being carried out without medical authorisation or certified supervision.
The Gopalapuram clinic itself operated from the fourth floor of a building that, from the outside, resembled an ordinary residential apartment.
“It was deliberately kept low-profile,” officials said. “From the outside, it looked like any residential flat. But inside, large-scale medical equipment was found. The premises had no valid registration or updated certifications.”
The trafficked infant has since been taken into state custody and placed at Sishu Vihar, a government-run childcare home, pending further legal proceedings.
A 2020 child trafficking case in Visakhapatnam is among the most high profile cases involving Dr Patchipala Namratha.
At the time, six individuals were arrested for allegedly selling a newborn baby boy to a couple in Kolkata. Among them was Dr Namratha, then the Managing Director of Universal Srushti Hospital in the Zilla Parishad area of Visakhapatnam.
Others included Dr Tirumala, a colleague; ASHA workers K Venkata Lakshmi and B Annapurna from V Madugula mandal; A Ramakrishna, Venkata Lakshmi’s son-in-law and a key agent; and L Chandra Mohan, described as a close associate of Dr Namratha.
According to Visakhapatnam police, the case centred around a widowed woman from a rural area who had become pregnant through an extramarital relationship. The pregnancy – considered socially unacceptable in her community – came to the attention of Ramakrishna, who informed Dr Namratha.
“Dr Namratha took advantage of the woman’s poverty and vulnerability, offering to help her,” a senior officer said at the time.
In March 2020, the woman was brought to the hospital, where she delivered a baby boy via caesarean section. The infant was then sold to a childless couple in Kolkata, allegedly with the involvement of Dr Namratha and her associates.
The operation began to unravel when G Sarojini, an anganwadi teacher in V Madugula, noticed that the woman no longer had the child and was evasive about its whereabouts. Sarojini alerted ICDS and Childline authorities on 20 March 2020.
Anticipating intervention, Chandra Mohan reportedly travelled to Kolkata, retrieved the child, and handed him over to Childline. The baby was later placed in the custody of Sishu Gruha, a state-run child protection home.
Police said the baby’s mother later filed a complaint, prompting a formal investigation. During questioning, several accused allegedly confessed to orchestrating the entire transaction – identifying the woman, facilitating delivery, selling the child, and forging documentation to create a new identity for him.
“The baby had already been renamed Siyan Roy,” police noted. “A fake birth certificate had been obtained through impersonation.”
The investigation also uncovered a troubling pattern. Officials said Dr Namratha had organised medical outreach camps in rural and tribal areas of Visakhapatnam, Vizianagaram, Srikakulam, and even parts of Odisha.
These camps, they said, were used to identify and exploit vulnerable women – particularly those seeking abortions, destitute pregnant women, and egg donors – for illegal adoption or baby trafficking.
Following multiple arrests across Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, investigators found that after facing criminal charges, Dr Namratha had repeatedly rebranded her operations.
In 2018, she renamed her facility Universal Srushti Fertility and Research Centre and expanded into Hyderabad, Vijayawada, Bhubaneswar, and Kolkata.
As the investigation into Universal Srushti Fertility Centre continues, Hyderabad police have issued a public advisory urging caution and cooperation.
Deputy Commissioner of Police S Rashmi Perumal warned that many such clinics may be operating across the country under the guise of offering fertility or surrogacy services.
She emphasised that any clinic promising commercial surrogacy – which is explicitly banned in India – must be reported immediately.
“The public is strongly advised to remain vigilant and avoid falling prey to fraudulent fertility or surrogacy services,” said DCP Perumal.
“Commercial surrogacy is banned in India. Any clinic that promises such treatments must be reported immediately. Victims are encouraged to come forward. Your cooperation is critical to dismantling such unethical and criminal networks.”
She added that strict legal action would be taken against any individual or institution involved in illegal surrogacy, human trafficking, or exploitation of vulnerable persons.
“Only altruistic surrogacy – by a close relative without financial compensation – is permitted by law. But clinics like these lure unsuspecting families by offering an easier way out and bypassing legal procedures,” she added.
The DCP further urged couples who may have used the services of Universal Srushti or similar facilities to speak up, despite the emotional or financial burdens they may face.
“Many couples hesitate to complain – especially after spending large sums or developing emotional bonds with the child. But unless more victims speak up, we cannot fully dismantle such networks,” she added.
Police also said they are working in tandem with the Medical and Health Department to audit and verify the registrations of fertility clinics across Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.
“If media outreach and public participation continue, we can uncover and act against several such unauthorised setups,” the DCP noted.
“We’ve arrested seven so far. There are more accused. Agents are operating across cities and districts. This case has opened up leads to what may be a much larger network.”
The crackdown was the result of a joint operation by the Hyderabad police, the Health Department, and Revenue authorities.
“This was a long-standing operation. We had received multiple complaints over the years, and finally, in a coordinated effort, we managed to raid both Hyderabad and Visakhapatnam locations simultaneously,” the DCP said.
“The investigation is ongoing. More arrests are likely.”
(Edited by Dese Gowda)
