Hadapsar murder unspools surrogacy, egg donation racket

Pune: A surrogacy and egg donation racket in Hadapsar-Wanowrie areas has emerged from the police investigation into the murder of Madhumati Thakur (22) of Vaiduwadi in Hadapsar, and the attempt the sell her 25-day-old baby boy.
Four women-Nikita Sanjay Kangne, Chandrabhaga Krushna Udanshu and Laxmi alias Pinky Balaji Jadhav and Maya More-and Akash Krushna Udanshu (19) have been arrested.Police on Tuesday named Kangne as the mastermind behind the kidnapping and the murder.
During interrogation, Kangne had told police that she was unemployed and had no source of income. But they realized she earned good money .
“She told us that she would donate her eggs for fertilization in exchange for money and had also been a surrogate mother. Kangne had got Laxmi Jadhav to become a surrogate mother too, but her pregnancy had failed. However, Jadhav also donates her eggs for money,“ senior inspector Vishnu Pawar of Hadapsar police station said.
Kangne was working for a commission and would provide egg donors to an IVF centre in Vimannagar, he added. She allegedly lured women to donate their eggs from the slum pockets of Wanowrie and Hadapsar with a promise of good money . “Kangne was paid Rs 15,000 per woman. She would pay Rs 10,000 to the donor and pocket Rs 5,000 as her commission. It was her source of livelihood and she may have lured many women for surrogacy and egg donation,“ Pawar said.
He added that she had plotted Madhumati and her baby's kidnappings while Laxmi Jadhav executed it. “All the women together killed Madhumati inside Kangne's house when she resisted them,“ Pawar added.
Kangne has never been booked for any illegal activity, police said. Neither are there cases of children going missing or being kidnapped from the slums located in Hadapsar and its adjoining areas, Pawar said.
Kangne's husband has deserted her and she stays alone.Her daughter is away at a boarding school. Police are determining the legalities about surrogacy and egg donation at the IVF centre.
Baby selling link?
Police are concentrating on the murder and if it is linked to an unidentified person to whom the suspects wanted to sell the 25-day-old baby boy. “A man from Satara Road was in touch with Nikita Kangne to buy the baby for about Rs 4 lakh. We are verifying this development,“ senior inspector Vishnu Pawar of Hadapsar police station said.