Vishakhapatnam: In a major crackdown against child trafficking case in Andhra Pradesh, the Vishakhapatnam city police on Thursday arrested two renowned doctors and six others from a hospital for allegedly selling a newborn in Universal Srushti Fertility & Research Centre in the state.
The accused doctor has been identified as Dr Ch Padmaja, DGO of Padmaja Hospital, and Dr N. Nooka Ratnam of C of Vishakhapatnam. The eight arrested includes six persons, whose identities are yet to be ascertained.
During a presser here in Vizag, the Commissioner of Police Rajeev Kumar Meena said, " After the Universal Srushti Hospital child trafficking case came to light, yet again on July 30, the police received a complaint from a woman, Ch. Venkata Lakshmi from Chodavaram. She stated that while she was pregnant, she visited a private hospital at Chodavaram for a medical check-up in November 2019, where she met Nooka Ratnam, who said she was a doctor from Universal Srushti Hospital in Visakhapatnam city and assured to perform the operation free of cost."
"After believing in her, Venkata Lakshmi got admitted in Universal Srushti Hospital later was referred to Padmaja Hospital, where she delivered a baby on January 31 this year. But Nooka Ratnam along with Ramakrishna, Dr Namrata and a few others, allegedly informed Ms Venkata Lakshmi that she had given birth to a stillborn. Thereafter, Venkata Lakshmi was discharged from the hospital on February 3," he said.