The veteran doctor insists she has never met the accused or set foot in the clinic, which is now at the centre of a widening investigation.
Published Aug 12, 2025 | 4:00 PM ⚊ Updated Aug 12, 2025 | 4:00 PM
Representative Image.
Synopsis: Dr Suri Srimathi, a retired gynaecologist, filed a police complaint accusing Universal Srushti Fertility & Research Centre and its head, Dr P Namratha, of misusing her name and credentials without permission. It came to light that her name was printed on the letterhead of Universal Srushti Fertility & Research Centre without her knowledge or authorisation
After more than half a century in medicine, a 90-year-old Hyderabad gynaecologist thought her days of hospital rounds and patient calls were long behind her. However, her quiet retirement was jolted when police arrived with a startling question — why had she lent her letterhead for fertility treatments linked to an alleged surrogacy scam and child trafficking ring?
The veteran doctor insists she has never met the accused or set foot in the clinic, which is now at the centre of a widening investigation.
Dr Suri Srimathi, a respected Secunderabad-based gynaecologist who served in prominent government and private hospitals, as well as national research institutions, filed a police complaint accusing Universal Srushti Fertility & Research Centre and its head, Dr P Namratha, of misusing her name and credentials without permission.
“I have served in various respected institutions as a gynaecologist, and I have served as a consultant with reputed national research institutions as well as government and private hospitals. I have taught and mentored hundreds of students during my career. Many of them can readily verify my academic background, batch numbers, and full work history,” Dr. Srimathi said in her complaint.
She stressed that her professional identity and record are well-known and respected in medical and academic circles.
“I have never worked at Universal Srushti Fertility & Research Centre, Secunderabad, nor do I have any kind of association with that institution. I am also not familiar with any hospital named Shrusti or any individual by the name of Dr Namratha,” she said.
According to her, it came to light that her name was printed on the letterhead of Universal Srushti Fertility & Research Centre without her knowledge or authorisation — a move she described as “a serious case of identity misuse and possibly a fraudulent act”.
She urged the authorities to investigate the matter thoroughly and, if any wrongdoing was found, to take “strict legal and disciplinary action” against those responsible.
“At no point have I had any contact or involvement with any branch of Universal Srushti Fertility & Research Centre, or Dr. Namratha of Universal Srushti Fertility & Research Centre, Secunderabad,” Dr. Srimathi wrote, asking police to take legal action.
Following her complaint, police registered a case under sections 61(2), 316(2), 318(4), 336, and 111 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) 2023.
The development comes as the Universal Srushti Fertility & Research Centre, run by Dr Namratha, faces mounting legal trouble. On 26 July, police in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh carried out simultaneous raids on the clinic’s branches in Hyderabad and Visakhapatnam and arrested Dr Namratha.
Since then, at least 25 people have been arrested across eight registered cases in connection with what investigators allege is a multi-crore surrogacy and fertility fraud that preyed on vulnerable couples.
Victims have accused the clinic of taking large sums for in vitro fertilisation (IVF) or surrogacy procedures and either failing to carry them out, providing babies without genetic links to the intended parents, or, in some cases, selling non-existent children.
Police say the investigation also unearthed cases where identities of medical professionals were allegedly misused to lend credibility to the clinic’s operations — a pattern that now appears to include Dr Srimathi’s case.
Authorities are probing whether the forged letterhead and falsified credentials were used to secure patient trust, court permissions, or medical clearances in the course of the alleged illegal surrogacy deals.
(Edited by Muhammed Fazil.)
