Nashik, March 5 Authorities in Nashik, Maharashtra, have sealed an in-vitro fertilization (IVF) center here in connection with the alleged illegal human egg extraction and surrogacy racket, and have also set up an inquiry committee, officials said on Thursday.
A racket involving the alleged illegal extraction and sale of human eggs in Badlapur, Thane district, came to light recently.
In some documents recovered in Badlapur, the mention of Malti IVF Centre in Nashik was found. As a result, the Nashik Municipal Corporation (NMC) has sealed that center, the officials said.
A team from the civic health department raided the IVF center located in the Mumbai Naka area of Nashik on Wednesday and recovered documents from there. The authorities also cancelled the registration of the IVF center and sealed it, they said.
An inquiry committee has been set up for a detailed investigation and verification of the documents seized from the center, and the inquiry report will clarify whether there were any violations of rules at the Nashik center, the officials added.
"There were some irregularities at the IVF center. Therefore, action has been taken against it. The center has been sealed and documents have been seized," said Dr Vijaykumar Devkar, the chief health officer of the NMC.
The racket came to light in Badlapur after a woman complained that she had not been paid for an egg donation. This led to a raid on the residence of the alleged kingpin, Sulakshana Gadekar (44), where hormonal injections were recovered.
Investigators suspect that an interstate network is involved in the crime.
According to police, data seized from mobile phones suggest that donor women were lured with offers of Rs 25,000 to Rs 30,000. They were transported to Bengaluru, Telangana, Nagpur, Pune, and Nashik for extraction after receiving hormonal injections at Gadekar's residence.
