Seventh arrest made from Jalgaon in illegal human egg donation racket in Badlapur

DCP Sachin Gore said, “We have arrested Choudhary from Jalgaon. Prima facie he was the one who provided forged documents using which women donated eggs under various identities several times which is illegal.”

Gore said as per rules, a woman can donate eggs only once in their lifetime which too is subject to rules like they have to be married.

“In our probe, we have found that there are women who have donated eggs over 20 times which is illegal and create health complications for the women,” another officer said. The officer added that so far during the probe, they have found 25 women who had donated eggs illegally. The said procedures were being carried out over a period over the past three years, the officer said.

The officer added that they suspect links to scam extend to other states as well and they are at an initial stage in the investigation. Earlier on Wednesday, the Thane police arrested Dr Patil, director of Malti IVF centre in Nashik in connection with the case. The police said that while he had permission for the Nashik centre, as part of his expansion process he also opened a centre at Thane for which he had no permission.

Meanwhile, authorities in Nashik sealed the in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) centre in Nashik in connection with the case and also set up an inquiry committee.The matter had come to light after a woman approached the Badlapur primary centre last month complaining that she had not been paid as promised. The staff at the centre then contacted the police which had led to the arrest of three women who worked as agents to scout for vulnerable women. The accused were identified as Sulakshana Gadekar, Ashwini Chabuskwar and Manjusha Wankhede.

During the probe, the police found that women were promised anywhere between Rs 25,000 to Rs 30,000 to “donate” eggs. After the woman agreed to donate the eggs, Gadekar would administer ovulation- stimulating injections without proper guidance. The women were then sent to IVF centres where doctors extracted their eggs.

An official said that the accused would get the same woman to donate eggs multiple times under different names using forged documents putting their lives at risk. The matter was also raised in the legislative council on Thursday with minister of state for home Yogesh Kadam terming the racket “extremely serious” and promised stringent action.