- Over 40 women potentially exploited; investigations remain ongoing.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has seized Rs 29 lakh in cash, frozen bank lockers and mutual fund investments, and recovered incriminating documents and digital devices during searches linked to an alleged illegal human egg extraction racket involving Manjusha Wankhede and 16 others, the agency said in a press release dated October 22.
The ED’s Mumbai Zonal Office-II conducted searches on October 16 at 10 premises, including hospitals and in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) centres in Thane, Baramati and Nashik, under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002. The investigation stems from an FIR and a subsequent chargesheet filed by Badlapur (East) Police Station in Thane, Maharashtra.
According to the agency, the alleged network recruited financially vulnerable women for egg donation and supplied their eggs to IVF centres and Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) banks through agents operating under different proprietorship concerns. The women were allegedly paid through intermediaries, who also received commissions for facilitating the procedures.
The ED said its investigation had also uncovered the alleged use of forged documents to conceal donors’ identities, facilitate repeat egg donations and falsely establish their medical fitness.
ED Tracks Alleged Network Of Agents, IVF Centres
The agency’s investigation follows a police case alleging cheating and forgery under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023, along with violations of the Assisted Reproductive Technology (Regulation) Act, 2021, and the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940.
Official X account of Enforcement Directorate (ED), tweets – “ED, Mumbai, has conducted search operations across 10 premises, including hospitals and IVF centres in Thane, Baramati, and Nashik, under the PMLA, 2002 in connection with an illegal human egg extraction racket run by Manjusha Wankhede and 16 others. The search resulted into seizure of Rs. 29 lakh in cash, freezing of bank lockers and mutual fund investments and recovery of incriminating documents and digital devices.”
— ANI (@ANI) October 22, 2026
The ED said women were allegedly recruited in exchange for monetary compensation and sent to establishments in Maharashtra and other states for egg retrieval. The alleged use of forged Aadhaar cards, affidavits, consent letters, birth certificates, PAN cards, blood-test reports and insurance papers was intended to mask the donors’ identities and enable repeated procedures, according to the agency.
Investigators are also examining financial transactions involving women, intermediaries, IVF centres and ART banks. The agency said new donor agents had been identified during the investigation, while multiple immovable properties and investments involving substantial amounts had also been traced.
More Than 40 Women Suspected To Have Been Exploited
The wider police investigation into the alleged racket has raised suspicions that more than 40 economically vulnerable women were made to undergo repeated egg-retrieval procedures in return for money.
According to the allegations in the police case, each cycle fetched between Rs 25,000 and Rs 30,000. Women were allegedly administered hormonal injections over 10 to 12 days to stimulate egg production, with sonography examinations conducted before and after the injections. Reports were allegedly sent to IVF and ART centres in different states before the women were taken for egg retrieval.
The police investigation alleged that doctors associated with the centres made cash payments to local operators who facilitated the procedures. In one case, a woman allegedly underwent egg retrieval 33 times.
The allegations point to potential medical risks for the women, as the procedures were allegedly carried out repeatedly while prescribed medical safeguards were circumvented.
Alleged Use Of Forged Documents To Enable Repeat Donations
The police investigation also uncovered allegations that forged identity and medical documents were used to conceal the women’s identities and facilitate repeat egg donations.
According to the ED, the documents included Aadhaar cards, affidavits, consent letters, birth certificates, PAN cards, blood-test reports and insurance papers. The alleged falsification was also used to present the women as medically fit for the procedures.
The agency is examining the role of donor-supply agents and medical establishments suspected of facilitating the network, alongside the financial trail of payments to women and intermediaries.
How The Alleged Racket Came To Light
The case came to light after a woman approached local health authorities, alleging that she had not received the promised payment for an egg-donation procedure.
The Thane district civil surgeon subsequently informed Dr Yotsna Sawant, medical officer in charge at Badlapur Sub-District Hospital, about suspected illegal activities involving IVF and ART procedures.
Acting on the information, police and medical officials raided the Badlapur residence of Sulakshana Gadekar, 44, who was alleged to have coordinated the operation. They recovered hormone injections and syringes valued at approximately ₹3.94 lakh, including Menotropin, Chorionic Gonadotropin, Cetrorelix Acetate and Triptorelin, which were allegedly stored and used outside authorised medical settings.
During questioning, Gadekar allegedly told investigators that she recruited women, arranged sonography examinations, administered hormonal injections and forwarded reports to IVF centres. She reportedly said doctors at the centres assessed whether the eggs were ready for retrieval and that she received cash payments for facilitating the procedures.
Police Chargesheet Named 15 Accused
Badlapur police filed a chargesheet of approximately 5,000 pages before a court in Ulhasnagar in May 2026, naming 15 accused, including five doctors. Eight accused had been arrested, according to the information provided in the police investigation.
Police recorded statements from 25 witnesses and investigated approximately 250 egg-donation procedures. Investigators also alleged that a woman who had undergone repeated egg-donation procedures later became an agent and recruited other women.
The ED’s latest action is focused on tracing the money linked to the alleged operation, including payments made to women and intermediaries and transactions involving medical establishments. The agency said its investigation was continuing.
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