Mumbai, Apr 1: Rajasthan Royals defeated Mumbai Indians by six wickets to register their third consecutive win in this edition of the IPL here on Monday.

Opting to bowl first, Rajasthan Royals stopped Mumbai Indians at 125 for nine and then chased down the target with 27 balls to spare. The in-form Riyan Parag again played very well to remain not out on 54 off 39 balls.

MI were off to a disastrous start as they found themselves tottering at 20 for four in the innings' fourth over in their season's first home game.

Again subjected to booing by fans, MI skipper Hardik Pandya responded with a 21-ball 34, while Tilak Varma chipped in with 32 in 29 deliveries.

Veteran pacer Trent Boult bowled extremely well to finish with 3/22, while leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal ended with excellent figures of 3/11, including picking the big wicket of Pandya when he was looking good for more runs.

This was MI's third straight defeat.

Brief scores:

Mumbai Indians: 125/9 in 20 overs (Hardik Pandya 34, Tilak Varma 32; Trent Boult 3/22; Yzvendra Chahal 3/11).

Rajasthan Royals: 127/4 in 15.3 overs (Riyan Parag 54 not out; Akash Madhwal 3/20).

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Thane (PTI): Police have unearthed an egg-donation racket, suspected to be involving crores of rupees, that repeatedly exploited vulnerable women in Maharashtra's Thane district, officials said.

The victims were offered Rs 25,000 to Rs 30,000 per cycle and repeatedly used as egg donors, resulting in physical exploitation. They were taken to IVF centres where the eggs were surgically extracted and sold for lakhs, they said, adding that so far, 20 women are believed to have fallen prey to the racket.

Three women have been arrested in connection with the illegal trade operating out of a residential apartment and a sonography centre at Joveli in Badlapur East, the police officials said on Saturday.

Egg donation is a fertility procedure where a woman provides eggs for another person to conceive, usually via IVF (in vitro fertilisation). The donor undergoes screening and hormone treatment, eggs are retrieved, fertilised, and transferred to the recipient.

The arrested persons have been identified as Sulakshana Gadekar (44), Ashwini Chabukswar (29), and Manjusha Wankhede (46).

Following a tip-off from a victim to Thane Sub-District Hospital's Chief Medical Officer Dr Jyotsna Sawant, a raid was recently conducted at Gadekar’s residence in Nano City building, the police said.

“We recovered photos of injections used in connection with pregnancy, sonography reports, affidavits with false names, fake documents, and evidence of financial transactions on the mobile phones of the accused,” a police official said.

The accused targeted needy women, paying them Rs 25,000 to 30,000 per cycle. The victims were allegedly administered hormonal injections to increase egg production and were repeatedly used as donors, leading to physical exploitation, the official said.

“The process involved injecting the women to stimulate egg production and taking them for sonography. Once the eggs were ready, the victims were sent to IVF centres where the eggs were surgically extracted and sold for lakhs of rupees,” the official added.

Ulhasnagar Deputy Commissioner of Police Sachin Gore said that more than 20 women might have fallen victim to this racket so far.

“The racket was previously operating in Vangani before shifting to Badlapur recently. We are investigating the involvement of IVF centres, doctors, and hospitals. High-profile names are likely to surface as the turnover of this illegal trade is estimated to be in crores,” Gore said.

A case has been registered under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the Assisted Reproductive Technology (Regulation) Act, the police added.