VIJAYAWADA: The ED officials have provisionally attached 50 immovable properties valued at Rs 29.76 crore belonging to Namratha, accused in the sensational Srushti fertility research centre case on Tuesday.
The attached assets include land parcels, flats and a hospital registered on Dr Pachipalli Namratha and her sons, with a value of Rs 50 crore. The ED began its probe based on FIRs by Gopalapuram police in Hyderabad. Arrested on February 12, Namratha allegedly ran a surrogacy racket sourcing newborns from poor parents.
“A network of agents and sub-agents were found to be involved in the racket for arranging poor and needy pregnant women and luring them with money to give up their child as soon as the child was born,” as per ED.
Probe reveals, Dr Namratha used to pay Rs 3.5 lakh for a female child and Rs 4.5 lakh for a male child. “She was involved in this racket since 2014 and that she continued the fake surrogacy racket even after multiple cases were registered against him and her medical license was suspended by the authorities. She cheated several couples in the same manner and collected huge amounts from them in the name of surrogacy. Part of these amounts were paid to the agents as their commission and to biological parents of trafficked babies,” probe revealed.
“Analysis of bank accounts maintained by Dr Namratha confirmed the modus operandi wherein the funds collected from childless couples were utilised for making payments to the agents/sub agents and from there, further payments were made to the biological parents of the trafficked babies,” reads the ED’s official release. Probe is underway.