Police rescue 43 women from alleged egg donation racket in Hyderabad
Nine people were arrested during raids across four locations as part of an investigation into an interstate recruitment network.
Hyderabad police rescued 43 women and arrested nine people during raids at Begumpet, Erragadda, Saroornagar and Gopalapuram, according to the Deccan Chronicle. The operation, conducted on October 30, involved the Malkajgiri Special Operations Team (SOT), local police, and health department officials.
Police Commissioner B. Sumathi said the women were brought from different states and kept in rented houses or hostels before being referred for fertility procedures. Recruiters allegedly targeted financially vulnerable women from West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Assam, Jharkhand and Odisha.
The women reported being offered between ₹20,000 and ₹50,000 per egg donation cycle. In Begumpet, women told officials that organiser Amit Sharma offered approximately ₹50,000 per cycle, while women in Saroornagar reported offers of ₹20,000 to ₹30,000.
The arrested individuals include Amit Sharma, businessman Emirishetty Durga Prasad, recruiter Nikkat Parveen, agent Reshma Khatoon, coordinator Meghavath Srinivas, ART manager Jepray Pradeep, documentation handler Vijay Bhagwah Rao Salunke, and intermediary Pankaj Soni. Sk. Parveen is also under probe.
Raids led to the seizure of mobile phones, documents, vials of injections, syringes, needles and tablets. Investigators are examining whether hormonal drugs were used to prepare women for egg retrieval and if forged Aadhaar cards or affidavits were used.
Three cases have been registered under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, and the Assisted Reproductive Technology (Regulation) Act, 2021. Police are currently verifying the identities of the rescued women and their links to fertility centres.