Thane IVF racket: Jalgaon electrician held for creating forged identity documents for victims

The Thane police have arrested an electrician from Jalgaon, marking the seventh arrest in connection with an alleged illegal human egg extraction and surrogacy racket, an official said on Friday. The accused, identified as Satish Chaudhary, allegedly forged Aadhaar cards and other identity documents for economically vulnerable women, who were exploited, the police official said. These fabricated documents were used to conceal the victims' identities and facilitate the illegal procedures without raising suspicion, he said. Earlier this week, police arrested a dentist from Nashik who allegedly facilitated illegal surrogate mother contracts at an IVF (In Vitro Fertilisation) facility registered in his wife's name in connection with the ongoing probe. The dentist, Dr Amol Patil, operated 'Malti IVF Center' in the city, where the alleged illegal activity was being carried out, according to the police. ''This racket appears to be a large, well-organised network. Further arrests are likely as we probe the involvement of more medical professionals and intermediaries,'' said the official, adding that seven persons have been arrested in the matter so far. The racket came to light in Badlapur, Thane district, 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. Egg donation is a fertility procedure where a woman provides eggs for another person to conceive, usually via IVF (in vitro fertilisation). The donor undergoes screening and hormone treatment, eggs are retrieved, fertilised, and transferred to the recipient. Meanwhile, civic officials sealed a sonography centre at Bhagwan Hospital in Ulhasnagar for allegedly flouting rules and allowing unqualified personnel to perform scans. Previously, a nurse from the same hospital was arrested for allegedly conducting unauthorised sonography to monitor egg status for the syndicate.