Hyderabad, Feb 13 (NationPress) - The Directorate of Enforcement (ED) has taken action by arresting Dr. Athuturi Namratha, also known as Pachipalli Namratha, on charges of money laundering linked to an illicit surrogacy operation.

The arrest was made by the ED's Hyderabad Zonal Office under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, during an investigation into an illegal surrogacy racket allegedly managed by her through the Universal Srusthi Fertility & Research Centre.

She was presented before the Metropolitan Sessions Judge court, which ordered her to be held in judicial custody until February 26.

The ED indicated that during her statements, recorded after her release on bail in November of the previous year, she was evasive and uncooperative, even when faced with evidence linking her to the crime and money laundering.

The investigation was initiated based on numerous FIRs filed by the Gopalapuram police in Hyderabad, addressing allegations of fraud, cheating, criminal conspiracy, illegal surrogacy, and child trafficking.

Dr. Namratha was accused of providing newborns to couples unable to conceive, orchestrating this through her clinic with the help of her employees and agents. She had previously been arrested by the police during the investigation but was released on bail on November 27, 2025.

During the PMLA investigation, statements from Dr. Namratha and her associates were gathered in judicial custody, and searches at various locations resulted in the confiscation of documents indicating her alleged involvement in the racket since 2014.

Evidence suggested that she continued her illegal surrogacy practices even after multiple legal actions against her and the suspension of her medical license by authorities, as stated by the ED in a release.

The ED further alleged that Dr. Namratha charged significant amounts from childless couples, promising them a baby through a surrogate. To give the procedure a facade of legitimacy, gametes were collected for implantation into a surrogate mother. However, the newborns were reportedly sourced from impoverished parents unable to care for their children and who sought to terminate their pregnancies.

A network of agents and sub-agents was uncovered, who were involved in luring financially needy pregnant women with monetary incentives to relinquish their children post-birth.

The ED claimed that Dr. Namratha paid approximately Rs 3.5 lakh for a girl child and Rs 4.5 lakh for a boy child. These deliveries allegedly took place at her hospital in Visakhapatnam, following the revocation of her Secunderabad hospital's license.

Additionally, the birth reports submitted to municipal authorities were purportedly forged, listing the childless couples as the parents instead of the biological parents.

The investigation also uncovered that several couples were deceived, leading to significant sums being collected from them in both cash and cheque forms. A portion of these funds was reportedly disbursed to agents and sub-agents as commissions and to the biological parents of the trafficked infants.