The Directorate of Enforcement (ED) has provisionally attached 50 immovable properties worth around ₹50 crore in connection with an alleged baby trafficking racket run under the guise of fertility treatment in Secunderabad, Telangana.
The properties — including land parcels, residential flats and a hospital — are registered in the names of Pachipalli Namratha and her sons, officials said on Tuesday. According to ED sources, many of these assets were purchased using proceeds generated through the alleged illegal operation.
Namratha ran the Universal Srushti Fertility Centre, which for years claimed to help childless couples conceive through IVF and surrogacy. However, investigators say the newborns handed over to couples were not IVF babies nor born through legitimate surrogacy arrangements.
According to the ED, the racket operated through a network of agents and sub-agents who targeted poor and vulnerable pregnant women. These women were allegedly offered money to surrender their babies immediately after birth.
Investigators said Namratha would pay approximately ₹3.5 lakh for a girl child and ₹4.5 lakh for a boy. The babies were then handed over to childless couples for amounts ranging from ₹11 lakh to ₹44 lakh.
To maintain the illusion of legal surrogacy, the clinic collected gametes from couples but did not actually conduct IVF or surrogacy procedures. Instead, babies obtained from biological parents were passed off as the couples’ children.
Birth certificates were allegedly forged before being sent to municipal authorities, with the names of the commissioning couples listed as parents instead of the biological ones.
Couples reportedly paid the clinic through a mix of cheque and cash. The ED said a portion of the money was distributed as commission to agents and intermediaries who arranged pregnant women. The remaining funds were transferred to the biological parents and used by Namratha to acquire properties.
Financial analysis of bank accounts maintained by the accused confirmed this flow of funds, the agency said.
The racket had allegedly been operating since 2014 and continued even after authorities suspended Namratha’s medical licence and registered criminal cases against her.
The case first came to light in July 2025 after an FIR was lodged at Gopalapuram Police Station. Subsequently, eight more FIRs were registered, prompting the formation of a Special Investigation Team by the Central Crime Station in Hyderabad.
More than 25 people, including five doctors, have been arrested so far.
The ED conducted searches at nine locations in September 2025 as part of the investigation under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. Namratha was later arrested on February 12, 2026 and is currently in judicial custody.
Investigators have identified more than 80 couples who were allegedly victims of the scam. Some were given children unrelated to their DNA, while others were reportedly provided forged reports claiming that babies had died.
The ED said the investigation is ongoing to uncover the full financial network of the racket, including possible hawala transactions and inter-state links across Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.
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