According to officials, around 80 couples have been cheated. Some were sold non-existent children, others received babies with no genetic connection to them, while many paid vast sums for procedures that were never carried out.
Published Aug 09, 2025 | 11:43 AM ⚊ Updated Aug 09, 2025 | 11:43 AM
Dr Athaluri Namratha ran Universal Srushti Fertility Centre without a registration since 2016.
Synopsis: Dr Patchipala Namratha began her medical career in 1995 and entered the fertility sector around 1998. Over nearly three decades, she built what police now describe as an elaborate criminal enterprise that specifically targeted society’s most vulnerable: couples desperate for children, women seeking abortions, and those trapped by poverty and social stigma.
When police arrested Dr Pachipala Namratha alias Athaluri Namratha on 26 July, following simultaneous raids at her Universal Srushti Fertility and Research Centre clinics in Hyderabad and Visakhapatnam, they uncovered what investigators describe as a multi-crore fraud that had ensnared dozens of desperate couples across India.
In the weeks since, the case has widened into eight newly registered FIRs and 25 arrests, each peeling back another layer of an alleged scheme that preyed on society’s most vulnerable.
For some victims like Ram Mohan (name changed), the promise was simple: pay ₹20 lakh for surrogacy and receive a child with his genetic material. Instead, after a year of payments and false hope, he was told his baby had died during birth—a child he was never allowed to see.
For others like Sumitra (name changed), the deception ran deeper: after paying ₹16.5 lakh and enduring hormone treatments, she received a baby through surrogacy, only to discover through DNA testing that the child was not biologically hers.
According to officials, around 80 couples have been cheated. Some were sold non-existent children, others received babies with no genetic connection to them, while many paid vast sums for procedures that were never carried out.
Ram Mohan’s journey into Dr Namratha’s web began with the simple desire that had eluded him and his wife for five years of marriage: a child. The 49-year-old Telangana resident represented one category of victim—those who were sold completely fabricated pregnancies and non-existent children.
Dr. Namratha’s diagnosis was swift and seemingly definitive: his wife could not bear children, but he was “perfectly alright.” Surrogacy was the solution, she assured them, quoting ₹20 lakh for the “legal” process that would be handled by her and her son, Jayanth Krishna.
Over the course of a year, Mohan arranged the full amount through bank loans and personal savings. He provided sperm samples and received what he later discovered were false prescriptions and scan reports. The couple waited, their hope sustained by regular updates and professional-seeming documentation.
The climax came on 20 January, 2025, when Dr Namratha called with news that a male child was expected to be born via surrogate in Visakhapatnam on 23 January. Following her instructions, Mohan, his wife, sister, and brother travelled to Vizag, where they met Kalyani at Srushti Hospital.
At 4:42 a.m. on January 23, Kalyani called to announce the birth but immediately demanded an additional ₹2 lakh for the caesarean delivery. When the family expressed inability to pay such a large sum immediately, they were not allowed to see the alleged baby. Under threat, Mohan transferred the money via PhonePe.
Even after payment, the couple was allegedly denied access to the newborn. “When I insisted for seeing the child, Kalyani told that the child is suffering with breathing problem and said that he is on ventilation. After an hour Smt. Kalyani told that the child died. They did not show us surrogacy mother and child,” said Mohan in his complaint to Gopalpuram PS.
“By observing all these activities of Dr. P. Namratha, Kalyani, Jayanth Krishna and others, it seems they are doing these kind of crime organizingly. Thus, Dr. P. Namratha forcibly collected ₹22 lakh from me but not gave any healthy baby as promised,” the complaint further read.
In what police describe as one of the most emotionally devastating tactics in the alleged racket, couples were handed actual babies, but not their biological children.
Sucharitha said she and her husband paid ₹16.5 lakh to the Universal Srushti Fertility Centre, underwent hormone injections, and in September 2024 travelled to Visakhapatnam for egg and sperm collection.
“Dr. Namratha suggested surrogacy using our own egg and sperm sample as the only possible option… she assured us all legal formalities would be taken care of,” she said. Initially, they were told both would need to appear before court. Later, the doctors said they would “handle everything” and their presence was not required.
On 24 June 2025, the couple was told the baby would be delivered in two days. “Accordingly, on 26-06-2025, we went to Visakhapatnam… Later, [Kalyani] informed us that a baby girl was born… They said the child was full-term and born through surrogacy using our biological material,” Sucharitha stated.
But medical inconsistencies and the child’s appearance raised doubts. A DNA test on 12 July confirmed they were not the biological parents. “She [Namratha] admitted that donor samples were used by mistake… and asked to return the baby so she can submit an application with govt for adoption… we could not heed her request and left,” Sucharitha said.
“We have taken the cognizance of the case, and have applied in court to hand over the kid to government run Sishu Vihar,” said the police official told South First.
The worst case scenario for the newborns is that the parents who gave birth to them refuse to take them back. The Assamese couple in the original case did not take the newborn back and the child is now under state care.
Dr Namratha’s network extended far beyond India’s borders, as evidenced by the case of S Rao (name changed), a project manager working in the United States since 2011. After failed IVF treatments in America in 2019, he and his wife Padmaja learned about Universal Srushti through friends who praised its “high success rate.”
The couple traveled from the US to India in late 2019, where they met Dr Namratha and underwent IVF treatment. When that failed, she suggested surrogacy in January 2020, assuring them she would handle all legal formalities. The quoted price: ₹25 lakh, with ₹12 lakh required upfront.
Trusting in the clinic’s credibility, Rao arranged for his brother in India to make the cash payment. But the promised procedures never began. The onset of COVID-19 and his professional commitments in the US prevented him from following up in person during 2020-2021.
When he finally returned to India in August 2025 to meet Dr Namratha, he was confronted with a shock. “Today I have come to meet Dr Namratha and when I reached the hospital at Secunderabad I have come to know about the case against Dr Namratha and team,” he said.
D Roy’s (name changed) story illustrates how Dr Namratha exploited couples who had already exhausted multiple treatment options. The 34-year-old had married his wife in 2020, and after failed IVF attempts in Delhi, Patna, and at Hyderabad’s Hegde Fertility Hospital, they were suggested surrogacy as a last resort.
When they found Universal Srushti online with its claimed high success rate, they contacted the clinic and met Dr. Namratha in November 2024. She quoted ₹20 lakh for surrogacy, to be paid in instalments, and assured them she would handle all legal requirements.
Roy paid ₹22,000 for initial sperm testing, then ₹10 lakh as the initial payment between April and May 2025. By June 26, 2025, Dr. Namratha informed them the baby was ready and asked for the next installment of ₹2.5 lakh, promising delivery on February 3, 2026.
However, despite making the payments and following procedures as advised, “serious irregularities have surfaced,” Roy said. These included non-disclosure of the surrogate mother’s identity, false assurances regarding legal permissions, and lack of transparency in medical procedures.
Subhash (name changed), a resident of Nalgonda, and his wife Madhavi had been trying for a child for over a decade. After a failed IVF attempt in Gujarat in 2013, they discovered Universal Srushti Fertility & Research Centre in Secunderabad.
In June 2024, Subhash contacted the centre and was assured their case could be handled effectively. Dr. Namratha suggested surrogacy, assuring them she would take care of all legal formalities. The couple agreed, with a total cost set at ₹23 lakh — ₹11 lakh upfront and the rest after delivery.
Subhash paid ₹9 lakh via PhonePe to Dr. Namratha’s account between 20 May and 2 July 2025, plus ₹2 lakh in cash. Their biological samples were collected, but the procedure never started.
Subhash said he only learned of the wider case against the doctor after news broke in July, and is ready to share payment records, prescriptions, and communications with investigators.
Dr. Namratha’s operation was revealed to be a sophisticated network involving multiple accomplices across several states.
Her 25-year-old son, Pachipala Jayanth Krishna, a practicing advocate, allegedly handled finances and legal intimidation. C. Kalyani Atchayyamma coordinated operations from Visakhapatnam, while various agents recruited victims from as far away as Odisha and Assam.
The investigation revealed that Dr. Namratha organized medical outreach camps in rural and tribal areas, using these camps to identify and exploit vulnerable women—particularly those seeking abortions, destitute pregnant women, and potential egg donors.
A 2020 case provides a chilling example: Dr. Namratha and her associates targeted a widowed woman from a rural area who had become pregnant through an extramarital relationship. Taking advantage of the woman’s poverty and vulnerability, they facilitated the delivery of her baby boy via cesarean section in March 2020, then sold the infant to a childless couple in Kolkata.
According to police, agents would approach vulnerable women, particularly those seeking abortions, and offer them money to continue their pregnancy so they could take the baby later. These newborns would then be passed off as children conceived through surrogacy. In at least four known cases in Telangana, women were not paid at all and completely abandoned post-delivery.
What made Dr. Namratha’s operation particularly insidious was its veneer of medical legitimacy. The clinics were equipped with extensive medical equipment for IVF procedures. Patients received professional-looking prescriptions, scan reports, and documentation that appeared authentic.
However, investigators discovered that Dr. Namratha was neither a certified medical professional nor was her fertility clinic operating with legal authorization. The clinic’s operation theater had 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 on its prescriptions without her knowledge.
During raids, officials also discovered devices suspected to be used for sex determination, a practice banned under Indian law, indicating the scope of illegal activities extended beyond fertility fraud.
Dr. Patchipala Namratha began her medical career in 1995 and entered the fertility sector around 1998. Over nearly three decades, she built what police now describe as an elaborate criminal enterprise that specifically targeted society’s most vulnerable: couples desperate for children, women seeking abortions, and those trapped by poverty and social stigma.
Her modus operandi was both sophisticated and ruthless. Operating from clinics that resembled ordinary residential apartments from the outside, she charged couples between ₹20 lakh and ₹30 lakh for IVF or surrogacy procedures. The promised treatments 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.”
(Edited by Sumavarsha)
