08 March,2026 01:07 PM IST | Thane | mid-day online correspondent
Police said that investigations into the matter are ongoing. Representational Pic/File
Thane Police in Maharashtra have registered a case against two individuals for allegedly cheating the owner of a private hospital in Dombivli of Rs 10 lakh, officials said, reported the PTI.
According to the complaint, the suspects entered into a ten-year partnership in 2016, investing Rs 63.20 lakh in the hospital's medical facilities.
Between 2017 and 2021, they reportedly received profits and returns of around Rs 1.28 crore.
The suspects later withdrew from the partnership abruptly, demanding additional funds and securing cheques of Rs 1 crore from the hospital owner under false pretences. Out of these, Rs 10 lakh was encashed, while payments on the remaining cheques were stopped amid suspicion of foul play, as per the PTI.
Police said that although the suspects had already recovered more than their initial investment, they allegedly attempted to cheat further and defame the hospital owner in the medical profession.
According to the police, based on the complaint, the case has been registered under sections 318(4) (cheating), 316(2) (criminal breach of trust), 351(2) (criminal intimidation), and 356(2) (defamation) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).
Senior Police Inspector Ganesh Javadwad said that investigations into the matter are ongoing, the news agency reported.
Meanwhile, in an another incident, the Thane Police have arrested an electrician from Jalgaon district in connection with an alleged illegal human egg extraction and surrogacy racket, taking the total number of arrests in the case to seven, officials said on Friday, reported the PTI.
The accused, identified as Satish Chaudhary, allegedly created forged Aadhaar cards and other identity documents for economically vulnerable women who were exploited by the racket.
Police said these fake documents were used to hide the victims' identities and facilitate illegal fertility procedures without raising suspicion.
Earlier this week, investigators arrested Dr Amol Patil, a dentist from Nashik, who allegedly helped arrange illegal surrogate mother contracts. According to the police, he operated Malti IVF Center, an IVF facility registered in his wife's name, where the alleged illegal activities were being carried out, as per the PTI.
Officials said the case points to a large and organised network, and further arrests are likely as the investigation continues into the involvement of more medical professionals and intermediaries.
The racket came to light in Badlapur after a woman complained that she had not received payment for donating her eggs. The complaint prompted police to raid the residence of the alleged kingpin, Sulakshana Gadekar (44), where hormonal injections used in the egg extraction process were recovered, according to the PTI.
Investigators suspect that the racket has interstate links. Data retrieved from mobile phones indicates that women were lured with offers of Rs 25,000 to Rs 30,000. After receiving hormonal injections at Gadekar's residence, they were transported to Bengaluru, Telangana, Nagpur, Pune and Nashik for egg extraction procedures, the news agency reported.
Egg donation is a fertility procedure in which a woman provides eggs to help another person conceive, typically through in vitro fertilisation (IVF). The donor undergoes screening and hormone treatment before eggs are retrieved, fertilised and transferred to the recipient.
Meanwhile, civic authorities sealed a sonography centre at Bhagwan Hospital in Ulhasnagar for allegedly violating regulations and allowing unqualified personnel to conduct scans. Earlier, a nurse from the same hospital had been arrested for allegedly performing unauthorised sonography to monitor egg development for the syndicate, the news agency reported.
Police said the investigation is ongoing and more arrests may follow.
(with PTI inputs)
