International Kidney Racket: Transplant coordinator of Fortis Faridabad Held

Kanpur: The transplant coordinator of Fortis hospital in Faridabad has been arrested recently for her alleged role in an international kidney transplant racket.

The accused was sent a notice by the Kanpur police to appear before Superintendent of Police (Crime) Rajesh Yadav, who was heading the Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the case.

She had appeared before the SIT on Monday and faced intensive questioning in the sensational racket which was busted in the city in February and spreads across Turkey and the Middle East countries, Yadav said. There was enough evidence to prove the involvement of the coordinator in the racket. A kidney transplant took place at her hospital in Faridabad and she also took a large amount of money from the recipient, the SP said.

After corroborating her role, she was arrested on charges of criminal conspiracy and forgery, the SP said, adding that she was produced before the special chief judicial magistrate from where she was sent to jail.

Over a dozen leading private surgeons, urologists, and pathologists were under the scanner in connection with the racket, he said.

The investigation was underway against several leading hospitals and doctors, and more arrests were likely to be made in the near future, an official associated with the SIT said.

The racket was busted on February 17. People involved in it used to remove kidneys of poor people illegally and send them for transplant into patients, including foreigners.

Read Also:International Kidney Racket BUSTED: 2 Fortis Delhi Doctors issued notice; PSRI CEO Held

On Sunday, Dipak Shukla, the CEO of a private hospital in Delhi, was arrested by the police after he was brought for questioning.

Informing about the racket, the police officials informed that the racket operated like a well-organized crime syndicate. The police sources said that there is enough evidence to prove that the accused removed kidneys of at least 12 donors for a huge amount of money taken from the recipients family. After extracting the kidneys, donors were paid just Rs 2 or 3 lakhs while recipients were charged Rs 70 to Rs 80 lakhs per transplant.

Besides the coordinator and Shukla, eight people, including the racket's alleged kingpin, Gaurav Mishra, have been arrested till now. The kingpin arrested by the Uttar Pradesh police had been nabbed earlier by Delhi Police in 2016 in a similar scandal,

"So far, we have arrested 12 people who were involved in the international racket of kidney transplant," Superintendent of Police (Crime) of Kanpur police, Rajesh Yadav said told IANS.

"We have identified six other persons who are private surgeons, urologists, and pathologists in connection with the racket. The accused played a role as middlemen in striking kidney transplant deals," the SP said.

Going by the investigations, almost all the donors have accused Gaurav Mishra of trapping them.

Meanwhile, officials from Fortis hospitals stated, "Fortis Healthcare has a zero tolerance policy against all malpractices. In connection with this case, further details are awaited. We will cooperate fully with the authorities and the police in their probe. As a responsible organization, we comply with all aspects of the Transplantation of Human Organs Act and Rules and adhere to all instructions issued by NOTTO."