Universal Srushti Hospital MD, 6 Others To Be Produced In Court

VISAKHAPATNAM: Seven people including the managing director of Universal Srushti Hospital were arrested by the Visakhapatnam police on the charges of child trafficking and will be produced in the court on Monday, July 27.

Universal Srushti Hospital MD Dr Patchipala Namrata and two doctors and two ASHA workers were arrested after Visakhapatnam police on Sunday, July 26 busted a child trafficking racket and took all the people involved into custody.

Police will produce all the accused along with Namrata in Visakhapatnam court on Monday evening. The city police will also file a petition for the custody of the accused for further investigation into the case.

Police said that Srushti Hospital Management played a key role in child trafficking and a case was registered against the hospital management in 2018 but they continued with the illegal racket.

Police said that they have renamed the hospital as Universal Srushti Fertility And Research Centre and continued the child trafficking racket. Apart from Visakhapatnam, it has branches in Hyderabad, Vijayawada, Bhubaneswar and Kolkata, said police. In the name of free medical camps in Uttar Pradesh and Odisha, they continue to cheat innocent people.

With the help of ASHA workers, the management would collect the details of the poor pregnant women and take them to the Visakhapatnam Srushti Hospital in the name of free delivery.

After the delivery, the management used to offer money to the mothers and take their babies. The management will then collect money from wealthy people who did not have children and sold the babies to them.

The management is also involved in creating fake birth certificates for the foster parents, said police.

Police also suspect the role of Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation (GHMC) officials in the child trafficking racket.