Six-member Kidney Racket busted, Delhi doctor coordinated with overseas buyer

Kanpur: Six people associated with a recently busted kidney racket, running in three different states as well as overseas, have been recently arrested by the police. A Delhi doctor is on the list of the investigation team for being associated with the gang.

The concerned doctor from Delhi,  now identified as Ketan Kaushik, allegedly an associate of the gang is being looked by the investigation team as he provided the kidney to the overseas clients and charged them higher compared to the Indian recipient.

The said kidney racket which was recently busted was apparently flourishing for the past 6 years. The mastermind of the racket hails from Kolkata and his aides operated it from Kanpur, Lucknow, Agra, Meerut, Noida and Delhi.

The racket came in the notice of the authorities after they were informed about a casual discussion of the plot by the gang members in a local restaurant.

The police officials set up different teams to investigate on the matter under the supervision of Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Kanpur Anant Deo. Two different teams were sent to Delhi and West Bengal to intensify the probe.

Read Also: Bengaluru: Renowned Nephrologist's name stolen to run Kidney Racket Scam

The investigation teams arrested altogether six members from the gang. The gang members included two kidney donors and a doctor associated with the gang. The mastermind of the gang hails from Kolkata who could not be nabbed yet.

The interrogation revealed that few doctors from Delhi based private hospitals were also involved in the racket.

A Delhi based doctor Kaushik's name cropped up during the inquiry. Two of the gang members admitted that they met the doctor in Delhi several times to discuss kidney transplants after trapping poor gullible donors.

One of the arrested gang members informed the investigation team that the agents of the doctor were deployed at hospitals and religious shrines to look for those who are in need of organs or those who are willing to willing to donate organ.

A senior police officer interrogating the matter told the TOI, "The doctor's men were linked to technicians and paramedics of the hospital's nephrology department who would tip them off about patients in need of a kidney."

The doctor would charge allegedly Rs 1.25 crore for a recipient of a kidney from abroad. If the recipient travelled to India, he would charge them Rs 75 lakh. If the surgeries took place overseas, the doctor sent the donor to the country where the recipient was based. If a recipient from abroad agreed to undergo surgery in India, Dr Ketan would coordinate between the receiver and donor and arrange surgeons too, but for an extra fee.

The arrested one claimed that he was aware of at least two donors who were sent to Sri Lanka and Turkey by Dr Ketan on a tourist visa and returned home after their kidneys were removed.

Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Kanpur Anant Deo, said that statements on Dr Ketan were corroborated by a donor, from Lucknow. "We are, however, yet to authenticate credentials of Dr Ketan Kaushik," the TOI reports.

"The doctor played a key role in making tourist visas of donors, who would be dispatched to wealthy clientele in Sri Lanka and Turkey," the SSP further added.

The other members of the gang manipulated and persuaded residents from Lucknow by taking advantage of the situation and financial constraints of the donor. The gang members made fake documents and identity proofs of the donors to disguise it as a legal one. They made fake promises of paying high for the kidney but ended up paying half the amount, reports the TOI.