Hyderabad: Pet Basheerabad police busted a commercial surrogacy and illegal egg trade racket in Hyderabad, arresting seven women and one man involved in the operation. The group targeted infertile couples and financially weak women for monetary gain.
Investigators identified 45-year-old Narreddula Laxmi Reddy of Chinthal, Quthbullapur, as the prime accused. A former egg donor and surrogate herself, she used her network to recruit women and refer them to fertility centres. She housed them at her residence before procedures and collected monthly payments from clinics. Her son, Narender Reddy, a Chemical Engineering graduate, played an active role in the operation.
The police linked the accused to several city clinics, including Hegde Fertility Hospital, Anu Test Tube Centre, FertyCare, EVA IVF, Amulya IVF Centre, and Sree Fertility Centre. Authorities are verifying the extent of these connections. Raids yielded ₹6.47 lakh in cash, five smartphones, a Lenovo laptop, promissory notes, hormone injections, pregnancy medicines, and case files.
All the women involved were aware of the ban on commercial surrogacy. Yet, they agreed to donate eggs or act as surrogates for financial returns. The arrested include women from Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, and Karnataka some with prior experience in such roles.
Laxmi Reddy already faces a human trafficking case under the Juvenile Justice Act filed by Mumbai’s CID Unit-2 in 2024.
In this case, police booked the accused under the Surrogacy Regulation Act, the Assisted Reproductive Technology Act, and sections of the BNS Act. Cyberabad’s Special Operations Team Medchal Zone led the raids, assisted by the District Medical and Health Officer. The group will be produced before court. Investigators are tracking other links in the racket.
