THANE: Police, officers from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and authorities from the state health department have been instructed to conduct raids on sonography and IVF centers in Badlapur and Thane, to check if they have licences to run their establishments.
This comes on the back of a flourishing human egg extraction racket being busted in Badlapur recently, which involved an IVF centre – Malti IVF Centre — in Thane that allegedly offered between ₹25,000 to ₹30,000 to victims for each cycle, repeatedly using them as egg donors. Four women and one man have been arrested in connection with the illegal practice thriving from an apartment in Badlapur. It is believed around 40 women have been exploited so far.
The directives were issued by the chairperson of the Maharashtra State Women’s Commission Rupali Chakankar, on Thursday, after she met authorities from the health department, police and the FDA, to discuss the issue. In the meeting, Chakankar said, “It is unlikely that this racket is confined to Badlapur alone. The scale of operations suggests that it may be active across the state, which is why the Thane police have been alerted. Investigation and action must proceed on war footing to dismantle the entire network.”
She further stated that since the process of egg extraction involves administering hormonal injections and anesthesia in operation theatres, a qualified doctor is required to perform the procedures. However, she underlined, “the arrested accused do not have any paramedical qualifications and may have killed or risked the lives of many women during these procedures, which needs to be investigated”.
Sachin Gore, DCP, Zone 4, Thane police, told HT, “One of the five accused, Sonal Grewal a nurse, posted at Bhagwandas Hospital in Ulhasnagar, used to conduct scans of the donors without any medical or diagnostic prescriptions from a doctor, which is mandatory. She would then send the videos of the scans to agents based in different states for further analysis and to select recipients of the eggs based on medical parameters such as blood group. We are investigating this and trying to trace agents in other states.” He added that most of these women are from financially weak backgrounds and hence “seeking incomes through such means”.
Chakankar added: “There is a high possibility of unreported fatalities among egg donors, as none of the five accused arrested possess any medical or paramedical qualifications or expertise to conduct IVF procedures.”
On Thursday, FDA started its checks on IVF centres operating across Thane, similar to Malti IVF Center, that are possibly involved in the racket. Malti IVF Centre had the permission to operate only in Nashik but was running a branch in Thane without authorisation.
As egg extraction is allowed only once in a woman’s lifetime, the alleged forty-plus donors had reportedly donated their eggs multiple times illegally by hiding their identities using fake Aadhaar cards and other government records, said an investigating officer. These donors had allegedly travelled across the state. Police are investigating the case with the help of forensic teams and tracing the accused’s digital footprints.
The Badlapur egg extraction racket came to light when a woman approached a health centre claiming that she had not been paid for an egg donation procedure. The doctor at the health centre alerted the Badlapur police, which led to a raid at the residence of one of the accused Sulakshana Gadekar, in Badlapur, the alleged leader of the gang operating the network. Police found injections used for ovulation stimulation in her flat.
The accused had allegedly arranged sonography tests at two different hospitals in Ulhasnagar without any medical prescription. Subsequently, Manjusha Wankhede, Ashwini Chabuskwar, Sonal Grewal and Sumit Sonkamble – involved in the network being run by Gadekar in her flat — were arrested.