HYDERABAD: In a twist to the surrogacy case involving a fertility clinic in Secunderabad, police have found that the baby was allegedly bought from a poor family and given to the city couple who sought IVF treatment in 2024.Police said the clinic suggested that the couple opt for surrogacy instead and assured them that the child would be biologically theirs. They were charged Rs 35 lakh for the procedure.Read also: IVF or infant trade? Dr. Patchipala Namratha linked to 2020 child trafficking caseOn Sunday, Hyderabad police arrested eight people including prime accused Dr Athaluri Namratha (64) of Universal Srushti Fertility Centre, Dr Nargula Sadanandam (41) an anesthetist from the state-run Gandhi Hospital and agents and technicians.
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They were booked on charges of cheating clients in the name of a surrogacy procedure and running a baby-selling racket. Cops also found that Srushti’s licence had been cancelled in 2021. Dr Namratha was running it illegally.She has been operating three more centres in Kondapur (Hyderabad), Vijayawada, and Visakhapatnam. All of them were raided on Sunday.
“The latest case appears to be only the tip of the iceberg; there could be many such cases. We are probing other couples who sought surrogacy and IVF treatment at different branches of the fertility centre to ascertain this,” said S Rashmi Perumal, DCP (north zone).Read also: Hyderabad surrogacy clinic lost registration in 2021, but doctor continued to run it illegallyPreviously, Dr Namratha came under scrutiny twice – in 2016 and 2020. In the first case her licence was suspended for five years by the Telangana Medical Council after an NRI couple from the US alleged that the newborn given to them, allegedly through surrogacy, was not biologically related to them. Then in 2020 Vizag police arrested Dr Namratha and five others for allegedly trafficking newborns.Police said that more than 10 cases were previously registered against the accused doctor and her clinic at three places – Visakhapatnam, Hyderabad and Guntur.The latest incident came to light on July 26 when a city-based couple approached the Gopalapuram police alleging that the baby handed to them by the clinic – also known as Srushti Test Tube Baby Centre – following commercial surrogacy, was not biologically related to the father. They had independently run a DNA test to establish this. The couple allegedly paid Rs 35 lakh for the procedure.“After interrogating the prime accused we have established that it is not a case of surrogacy. Dr Namratha and her employees were selling infants to childless couples bought from poor pregnant women who were lured with money,” said the DCP.
She added: “The biological parents of the baby, who have also been arrested, belong to Assam and were living in Hyderabad. They were paid Rs 90,000 and the mother was sent to Visakhapatnam for delivery.”The baby boy was two days old when he was sold to the complainant couple under the impression that it is their biological son.Among the others arrested are Dr Namratha’s son P Jayanth Krishna (25), a practising advocate who used to manage his mother’s funds, two employees of the clinic C Kalyani Atchayyamma (40) and G Chenna Rao (37), and an agent Dhanasri Santoshi (38). The biological parents of the infant have been identified as Mohammed Ali Adik (38) and Nasreen Begum (25). While seven of the accused have been sent to 14-day judicial remand to Chanchalguda jail, C Kalyani, an employee at Visakhapatnam branch is being brought to Hyderabad.“Apart from the illegal trade, the accused are also guilty of indulging in commercial surrogacy which is illegal in India. Only altruistic surrogacy is allowed,” the DCP said.Approached clinic in Aug 2024Senior police officials said the complainants, originally from Rajasthan, approached the fertility centre in Aug 2024 for fertility and IVF consultation. During the visit, Dr Namratha conducted fertility tests and advised the couple to opt for surrogacy. They were asked to visit the clinic’s Visakhapatnam branch for further procedures.“They were assured that a surrogate would be arranged by the clinic and that their embryo would be transplanted. Over a span of nine months, the couple made multiple payments for consultation, treatment, and surrogate care,” said a police official, adding, “Throughout this period, the clinic provided regular updates claiming that the pregnancy was progressing smoothly.”In June 2025, the couple was informed that the surrogate mother delivered a baby boy via C-section in Visakhapatnam. They were asked to pay an additional delivery charge – of Rs 2 lakh – before taking custody of the child. The clinic claimed that the child’s biological father was demanding more money.“Upon reaching Vizag, the baby was handed over along with documents falsely indicating that the child was biologically theirs, including a fabricated birth certificate,” said the cop.When the complainants asked Dr Namratha for the DNA report they found that it was not done before the registration of the baby on their name. However, the clinic representatives kept falsely assuring the couple that the child belonged to them.Suspicion arose when the couple opted for a DNA test of all three in a forensics lab in Vasant Kunj, Delhi, which revealed that neither of them shared any genetic link with the child.“When they tried to seek clarification from the clinic, Dr Namratha initially blocked their numbers before threatening them and denying access to further documentation,” said the police official.She said that the couple, fed up with the clinic’s behaviour, approached Gopalapuram police around a week ago and lodged a complaint.“With malicious intentions, the accused Dr Namratha did not let the complainant couple meet the biological mother, who they believed was the surrogate,” said the DCPCentre seized; had tricked health dept earlierFollowing the complaint, the police, along with health dept officials, seized the fertility centre at Gopalapuram. Officials said they found equipment which substantiated the facts that the accused were offering IVF treatments, creating live embryos, and carrying out medical procedures without any proper license.“Previously, when health officials visited the clinic for inspection on a quarterly basis, it was closed and seemed to be a residential complex. But, it turns out, patients were coming discreetly,” said Dr J Venkati, district medical health officer (DMHO), Hyderabad.The DMHO added: “During the recent crackdown, equipment for sex determination and nitrous oxide were also found. Many other pregnancy-related procedures such as MTP, IVF, and others were also being performed by uncertified professionals at the centre.”The DCP alleged that clients who protested were intimidated and threatened by her advocate son, who ran an office from the same premises.
