Hyderabad, Sep 26 (NationPress) The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has confiscated incriminating documents, details regarding defrauded couples, and property information linked to Dr. Pachipalli Namratha during extensive search operations at nine different locations across Hyderabad, Vijayawada, and Visakhapatnam tied to an illegal surrogacy scheme.

The ED's Hyderabad Zonal Office reported on Friday that these searches were carried out on Thursday under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) concerning the illicit surrogacy operations orchestrated by Dr. Pachipalli Namratha, also known as Athluri Namratha, under the guise of Universal Srusthi Fertility and Research Centre.

An investigation by the central agency was launched following multiple FIRs filed by the Gopalapuram Police Station in Hyderabad, citing allegations of fraud, cheating, criminal conspiracy, illegal surrogacy, and child trafficking.

The ED's search efforts unearthed documents indicating that Dr. Namratha was providing such services to couples throughout India in various centers located in Hyderabad, Vijayawada, Visakhapatnam, Nellore, Kolkata, and more. The seized papers further indicated that Dr. Namratha had been engaged in these activities for over a decade.

She fabricated legal documents in the form of surrogacy agreements to create the illusion that childless couples and the surrogate mothers approached her independently, asserting that she merely facilitated the surrogacy services.

Among the documents seized, one case involved foreign passport-holding parents who learned through a DNA test that the child delivered by her clinic was not biologically theirs, as their child's foreign passport was denied.

Additionally, materials seized included property records acquired through proceeds of crime. The ED confirmed that further investigations are ongoing.

Dr. Namratha was allegedly providing couples unable to conceive with children through a surrogacy operation she had set up with her staff and agents. Couples were persuaded to choose surrogacy over IVF.

Initial police complaints revealed that couples seeking a child through surrogacy were promised a baby conceived using their own egg and sperm to create embryos, which would then be screened and implanted into a surrogate mother arranged by the clinic.

They were assured that all documentation would be managed by the clinic, and that a healthy child would be delivered post DNA verification. Dr. Namratha quoted a fee of Rs 30 lakh, with Rs 15 lakh paid via cheque and Rs 15 lakh in cash, allegedly paid to the surrogate. The couple eventually received a male child, but DNA testing confirmed it was not their biological child.

Agents were also implicated in the scheme, recruiting vulnerable pregnant women and enticing them with money to relinquish their children immediately after birth.

The ED's investigation uncovered that numerous couples were deceived in this manner by Dr. Namratha, who collected significant sums through both cheques and cash. A portion of the funds was distributed to the surrogates and the agents who facilitated the process. The agency indicated that Dr. Namratha retained the majority of the proceeds, using them for personal expenditures, including property acquisitions.