Illegal Human Egg Extraction Racket: Nashik IVF centre Director arrested

Thane: In a latest development, a doctor who is also the director of an IVF centre in Nashik was arrested on Wednesday in connection with the alleged illegal extraction and sale of human eggs from economically vulnerable women in Maharashtra.

The director, based in Nashik, was arrested for his alleged involvement in the racket that was reportedly operating out of Badlapur and Ulhasnagar. He was produced before the Kalyan sessions court and remanded to five days of police custody. According to police, he is accused of acting as a surrogate mother agent.

Deputy Commissioner of Police Sachin Gore said, "Preliminary investigation has revealed that the three main arrested accused, all women, were in direct contact with Malti IVF centre." Investigators suspect the possibility of a larger interstate or even international trafficking network with links to multiple cities. 

According to a report by The Times of India, the developments prompted immediate action in the Maharashtra legislative council, where Minister of State for Home Yogesh Kadam termed the racket "extremely serious" and assured strict action. Deputy chairperson Neelam Gorhe directed that the registrations of the accused doctors be cancelled. The matter was raised in the House by BJP MLC Chitra Wagh, who alleged that poor women were lured with money and subjected to repeated hormonal injections and illegal egg extraction under the guise of IVF and surrogacy. 

It was alleged that some women donated eggs eight to 10 times, far exceeding the legally permitted one-time limit, and were sent back without medical follow-up care. Allegations were also made about an interstate network involving centres in Telangana and Karnataka.

Investigations suggest that the racket was allegedly operated through a doctor linked to a registered IVF centre in Nashik, but working out of Thane. So far, around 10 women have been identified by police, though it has been claimed that the number may exceed 20. The arrested doctor has been booked under the Surrogacy (Regulation) Act, 2021, and five persons, all women, have been taken into custody in connection with the case.

Addressing the House, Kadam stated that fake Aadhaar cards were allegedly used to repeatedly register the same woman under different identities. He announced that Aadhaar authentication would now be made mandatory and that all IVF centres would be linked to a centralised monitoring system. Maharashtra currently has around 860 IVF centres. Joint inspections will be conducted by the home and health departments through a district-level panel comprising the superintendent of police and civil surgeon. Action has also been initiated against unauthorised sonography centres, and the government may invoke stringent provisions such as the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) if required.

Gorhe further directed that the Indian Medical Council be formally informed to initiate proceedings for cancellation of the registrations of the accused doctors, emphasising the need for strict regulatory oversight to prevent commercial exploitation of vulnerable women. Kadam assured the House that appropriate action would follow.

Police stated that the racket was allegedly operated by three women from residential premises in Badlapur and Ulhasnagar. The prime accused had allegedly stocked injections used for ovarian stimulation at her residence. The trio is accused of luring women with monetary incentives and administering ovum-stimulating injections at their homes. Once the ova developed, the women were allegedly sent to the IVF centre, which has branches in Nashik and Thane, where doctors would extract the eggs through medical procedures and sell them unlawfully, police said. 

Sources further indicated that the IVF centre was licensed to operate only in Nashik but was allegedly functioning in Thane without authorisation. Following the arrest, the Nashik Municipal Corporation has issued a notice to the doctor, and documents related to the centre are currently under scrutiny.