Thane: Rupali Chakankar, chairperson of the Maharashtra State Women’s Commission, on Thursday convened a high-level review meeting with Thane police officials, the state health department, the civil administration and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in connection with the alleged illegal human egg extraction racket unearthed in Badlapur.Expressing grave concern, Chakankar said the case appeared “far more serious than initially believed”, flagging the possibility of unreported fatalities among egg donors. She pointed out that none of the five accused arrested so far — including four women — possessed recognised medical or paramedical qualifications or expertise in IVF procedures. “Despite this, hormonal injections were allegedly administered and egg extraction procedures conducted under anaesthesia, posing significant risks to women’s health,” she said.Chakankar directed the local administration, particularly the FDA, to immediately verify the legality, registration and licensing status of all sonography centres, IVF clinics, and gynaecology and obstetrics hospitals operating in Badlapur and surrounding areas. Officials said the inspection drive commenced on Thursday and would be expanded based on preliminary findings.Inputs reviewed at the meeting indicated that a facility identified as Malti IVF Center, licensed to operate only in Nashik, was allegedly functioning in Thane without authorisation. Chakankar instructed authorities to conduct a comprehensive probe to map the network, identify alleged masterminds and take stringent legal action against those found complicit.Police officials informed the meeting that at least 40 women had come forward as donors, many of whom allegedly underwent multiple egg donation cycles. Investigators said the women were largely from economically vulnerable backgrounds, including those facing unemployment or domestic distress. Police further alleged that forged identity documents, including manipulated Aadhaar details, were created to bypass regulations and facilitate repeated donations at different locations across the country.Authorities said the racket came to light after a woman approached a health centre claiming she had not been paid for an egg donation procedure.Earlier, police arrested Sulakshna Gadekar, Ashwini Chabuskar, and Manjusha Wankhede, accused of running the operation from their residences in Badlapur and Ulhasnagar. During searches, officers reportedly seized ovulation-stimulating injections worth more than Rs 10 lakh from their premises.According to investigators, financially distressed women were allegedly lured with promises of money, administered ovulation-stimulating injections without proper medical consultation, and subjected to unauthorised sonography tests. Once ovulation was induced, the women were allegedly referred to IVF/ART centres where eggs were extracted and purportedly sold illegally. Donor selection, officials claimed, was based on matching blood groups as per demand.On Wednesday, the four women accused were produced before the Ambernath court. Relatives of the accused told media persons that the women were innocent and had merely worked as agents, demanding a fair investigation.Chakankar also directed the FDA to examine the supply chain of hormonal injections and related medicines used in the alleged procedures. Separately, she flagged reports of illegal sale of medical termination of pregnancy (MTP) kits in districts such as Chandrapur and Bhandara, calling for statewide raids on medical stores suspected of selling abortion kits without prescriptions.Thane police said multiple teams were pursuing leads and that further arrests were likely.
