Hyderabad, Oct 22: The Directorate of Enforcement (ED) on Wednesday started questioning Dr Pachipalli Namratha and other accused in Chanchalguda Jail here in connection with the illegal surrogacy racket.

As part of the probe into alleged money laundering, the ED officials were questioning Dr Namratha, her son Pachipala Jayanth Krishna, Muthipeta Nandini, Dhanasri Santoshi Chitikireddi Kalyani, following permission granted by a city court.

The Nampally criminal court permitted the ED to interrogate the accused in jail till October 28.

Last month, the ED conducted searches in Hyderabad, Vijayawada and Visakhapatnam under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in connection with an illegal surrogacy racket run by Dr Namratha alias Athluri Namratha in the name of Universal Srusthi Fertility & Research Centre

The Central agency had seized incriminating documents, details of couples defrauded and properties in possession of Dr Namratha.

The agency initiated the investigation on the basis of multiple FIRs registered by the Gopalapuram Police Station, Hyderabad, for fraud, cheating, criminal conspiracy, illegal surrogacy and child trafficking.

Busted in August this year, the racket involved cheating couples through fraudulent IVF and surrogacy packages, infant trafficking, forged records and illegal operations even after the clinic’s license was cancelled in 2021.

About 25 accused were arrested in the case, which is being probed by a Special Investigation Team (SIT) of Hyderabad Central Crime Station.

Searches conducted by the ED resulted in the seizure of documents, which revealed that Dr Namratha was offering such services to couples across India in different centres in Hyderabad, Vijayawada, Visakhapatnam, Nellore, Kolkata, etc.

The seized documents also revealed that Dr Namratha was involved in these activities for more than 10 years.

She created legal documents in the form of surrogacy agreements to project that the childless couples and carrier (surrogate) themselves approached her, and she was just providing the surrogacy services.

Mumbai: A 37-year-old woman died after a fire broke out in a one-storey structure at Gorai No. 2 in Borivali West on Wednesday afternoon. Two men were safely rescued from the first floor using the staircase. The fire was brought under control after two and a half hours. According to officials, the woman who succumbed to her injuries was trapped in the bathroom when the fire started.

The fire broke out at Nalanda Cooperative Housing Society near Mangalmurti Hospital in Gorai No. 2 around 11:45 AM on Wednesday. Mumbai Fire Brigade (MFB) personnel, along with local ward officials, rushed to the spot to carry out firefighting operations. According to a fire official, “The fire was confined to decorative materials, wooden furniture, clothes, etc., in a ground-floor shed measuring approximately 15×40 feet, as well as to metal and wooden furniture and clothes on the first floor of an adjacent ground-plus-one structure.”

As per the information received from the MFB, Two men were safely rescued from the first floor using the staircase. A woman, identified as Pooja Vinaychandra Parekh, was rescued from the bathroom on the first floor and rushed to Lotus Hospital. However, she succumbed to her injuries before being admitted, as she had sustained 50% burns. The exact cause of the fire will be determined after a detailed investigation, said a fire official.

Mumbai: Seven people were injured when a portion of a ground-plus-one structure collapsed in Madanpura on Wednesday afternoon. Of the injured, five were treated on an OPD basis at a private hospital and discharged. The remaining two are currently receiving treatment at the civic-run Nair Hospital. According to hospital authorities, their condition is stable.

According to information received from the BMC’s Disaster Management Cell, the incident occurred around 12:45 PM at the Fanuswala building in Madanpura. A civic official stated that a portion of the first floor of the ground-plus-one structure collapsed, injuring seven people. Fire brigade personnel and the local civic ward team rushed to the spot and carried out rescue operations.

The injured were moved to nearby hospitals, where Gulam Rasool (24) and Mohammad Sayyad (59) were admitted to Nair Hospital; their condition is said to be stable. Meanwhile, Arif (29), Sattar (35), Mohammad (35), Samsul (29), and Catherine (45) were treated at Bhatia Hospital on an OPD basis and later discharged, confirmed the official.