Kidney Transplant Racket: Telangana CID arrests Anaesthesiologist

Medical Dialogues in January reported that the Telangana State Medical Council (TSMC) issued notices to Alakananda Hospital, Saroornagar, after an illegal kidney transplantation racket was uncovered during a raid conducted by the Health Department. The hospital’s managing director, along with other staff members, were arrested for allegedly luring kidney donors from other states and bringing in external doctors to carry out the transplants.

Kidneys donated by two women from Tamil Nadu were transplanted in two patients from Karnataka. Police shifted the kidney donors and two patients to the government-run Gandhi Hospital in Secunderabad by ambulance. 

Preliminary investigations revealed that donors, reportedly paid Rs 4 lakh each for their kidneys, were from Tamil Nadu, while recipients, who paid Rs 50 lakh for the transplants, hailed from Karnataka. The surgeries were allegedly performed on January 16 by doctors brought in from other states. The role of two doctors in the racket were found who were brought in from other states to assist with the surgeries on recipients. Among them, one claimed to hold a medical degree from China, while the other claimed to have graduated from Ukraine.

After this, the government handed over the case to the Crime Investigation Department (CID), which exposed illegal kidney transplants even at Janani and Aruna hospitals in Saidabad in April. The surgeries were disguised as lawful organ donations.

CID Additional DGP Charu Sinha said that they are now focusing on locating absconding suspects and following money trails to understand how the racket operated across hospitals and states.

Also read- Kidney Transplant Racket: TSMC issues notice to private hospital