Add thelocalreport.in As A Trusted Source
Hyderabad, Oct 22 (IANS) The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Wednesday began questioning Dr Pachipalli Namrata and other accused at Chanchalguda jail here in connection with the illegal surrogacy racket.
As part of the investigation into alleged money laundering, ED officials were questioning Dr Namrata, her son Pachipala Jayanti Krishna, Muthipeta Nandini, Dhanashree Santoshi Chittikireddy Kalyani after permission was granted by a city court.
Nampally criminal court allowed ED to interrogate the accused in jail till October 28.
Last month, the ED had conducted searches in Hyderabad, Vijayawada and Visakhapatnam under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in connection with an illegal surrogacy racket run by Dr Namrata alias Athluri Namrata in the name of Universal Srishti Fertility and Research Centre.
The central agency had seized incriminating documents, details of the fraudulent couples and properties from the possession of Dr Namrata.
The agency initiated the investigation on the basis of multiple FIRs registered by Gopalapuram Police Station, Hyderabad for cheating, fraud, criminal conspiracy, illegal surrogacy and child trafficking.
Busted in August this year, the racket involved defrauding couples through fake IVF and surrogacy packages, baby trafficking, forged records and illegal operations even after the clinic’s license was canceled in 2021.
Around 25 accused were arrested in the case, which is being investigated by a Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the Hyderabad Central Crime Station.
Documents were seized in the searches conducted by ED, which revealed that Dr. Namrata was providing such services to couples in various centers across India like Hyderabad, Vijayawada, Visakhapatnam, Nellore, Kolkata etc.
The seized documents also revealed that Dr. Namrata was involved in these activities for more than 10 years.
She prepared legal documents in the form of surrogacy agreements to show that childless couples and the carriers (surrogates) themselves were contacting her, and she was just providing surrogacy services.
–IANS
ms/dpb