Telangana kidney racket: Hunt on for kingpins; police probe role of Sri Lankan doctors

Hyderabad: After arresting four persons in the international kidney racket, Nalgonda Police has started a hunt for the kingpins of the racket. The website www.ineedkidney.com, through which the main accused K. Suresh had sold his kidney nearly a year ago, is not functional now. But the police has found Facebook pages and Twitter handles operating with the same names.

On Wednesday, Nalgonda police arrested Suresh and three others for their alleged involvement in the kidney racket. Suresh had lured three people from Nalgonda and 12 others, including people from Hyderabad and other parts of India, to sell their kidneys.

Cops are also investigating the role of the doctors who operated on these donors and whether the hospitals in Sri Lanka are authorised to carry out kidney transplants.

In November 2014, Suresh, a second year hotel management student, had posted his contact number on www.ineedkidney.com. He travelled to Colombo and sold his kidney to a Mumbai based patient in December 2014, for which he received Rs 5 lakh.

Later he became an agent for the racketeers and started organising donors. Interested donors were taken to Vadodara in Gujarat for medical tests and if found fit, they were sent to different hospitals in Colombo for the transplants.

“The payments were made through online bank transfers. The network runs over WhatsApp and other social media. The hospitals charge Rs 27 lakh for each transplant from the receptor. After deducting all the costs including travel and medical, the donor is paid Rs 5 lakh,” said Nalgonda superintendent of police Vikram Jeet Duggal.

A case under Section 420, and read with  120(b) of IPC and Sections 18 and 19 of AP Transplantation of Human Organs Act has already been registered.
Police on Wednesday arrested Suresh, Md Abdul Hafeez, a suspended government employee, P. Mahesh and K. Naresh.

On inquiry, cops found that four donors from Hyderabad, four from Bengaluru, two from Tamil Nadu and one each from Mumbai and Delhi had been lured by the gang.

“We are trying to trace the kingpins of the racket and also the hospitals that are performing the surgeries. There may be more donors who have already sold their kidneys. We will file a petition in court for their custody. We can get more information during inquiry,” added Mr Duggal.

Download the all new Deccan Chronicle app for Android and iOS to stay up-to-date with latest headlines and news stories in politics, entertainment, sports, technology, business and much more from India and around the world.