HYDERABAD: Promising hope to childless couples, a fertility clinic instead orchestrated a cruel deception: buying babies from vulnerable women and passing them off as biological children born through surrogacy.
The racket, run by Universal Srushti Fertility Centre, unravelled when a couple who paid Rs 35 lakh discovered through a DNA test that the two-day-old baby they were given wasn’t biologically theirs. Eight people have been arrested, exposing a multi-city baby-selling operation.
The Gopalapuram police, with support from the revenue and health authorities, busted the illegal surrogacy and trafficking ring, which operated under the guise of IVF services.
Among those arrested are the clinic’s founder, Dr Athaluri Namratha alias Pachipala Namratha (64), her son Pachipala Jayanth Krishna (25), clinic manager C Kalyani Atchayyamma (40), Gandhi Hospital anaesthetist Dr Nargula Sadanandam (41), lab technician Gollamandala Chenna Rao (37), agent Dhanasri Santoshi (38) and the baby’s original parents — Mohammed Ali Adik (38) and Nasreen Begum (25). The rescued month-old baby has been placed in state care at Shishu Vihar.
According to DCP (North Zone) S Rashmi Perumal, the complainant couple from Rajasthan approached the Gopalapuram branch, Hyderabad, in August 2024. After an initial consultation, they
were referred to the Visakhapatnam branch for further procedures. Over nine months, they paid more than Rs 35 lakh, believing a surrogate had been arranged. In June 2025, the clinic informed them that a baby boy had been delivered via C-section. The child was handed over with a forged birth certificate listing the couple as biological parents.
Dr Sadanandam from Gandhi Hospital administered anaesthesia to women during deliveries in various cities as part of the illegal operation, the DCP said.
According to cops, the complainant couple grew suspicious that they had been handed someone else’s baby after noticing striking differences in the infant’s facial features. When the couple requested DNA verification of the surrogate, Dr Namratha allegedly stalled the process.
Founder’s son tried to coerce couple who filed FIR: Police
Suspecting foul play, they conducted independent tests in Delhi, which confirmed the baby was unrelated to them. Upon confronting the clinic, they were threatened and denied access to documents. Dr Namratha’s son, an advocate, also allegedly tried to intimidate the couple with legal threats. They eventually approached the police and lodged a complaint.
Investigations revealed that the baby had been born to a woman in Hyderabad who had been lured into giving up her child for `90,000. She was shifted to Visakhapatnam for delivery, and her baby was passed off as the complainant couple’s child using falsified medical records. The original parents, a couple from Assam, were also arrested for their role in the transaction.
Raids at the Hyderabad and Visakhapatnam branches led to the seizure of medical equipment, surrogacy-related documents and unlicensed IVF materials.
Police confirmed that over 10 cases have been registered against the accused across multiple locations, including Maharanipeta, II Town (Visakhapatnam), Gopalapuram and Kothapeta (Guntur). More than 50 leads are currently under investigation, and special teams have been deployed to trace other suspects.
A public advisory has been issued urging citizens to avoid unlicensed fertility centres and report suspicious activities. Authorities stressed that commercial surrogacy is illegal in India and warned that strict action will be taken against those involved in baby trafficking and exploitation.
“We are committed to dismantling these unethical networks,” said DCP Rashmi. “Anyone involved in such criminal acts will be prosecuted.”