Hyderabad: Sleuths of the Hyderabad Central Crime Station (CCS) recently sent a clarification to the ministry of home affairs regarding the Letter Rogatory (communication between the court of one country and that of another) for recording Dr Monik's statement in Sri Lanka with regards to the link found in Nalgonda kidney scam.
Officials would be interrogating Sri Lankan nephrologist Ambepitiya Arachchige Don Monik Tervin Sanjeewa, who was accused of performing 58 kidney transplantations from paid donors from Hyderabad, Nalgonda and Guntur districts and other parts of the country.
Officials earlier arrested a 22-year-old agent, Kasparaju Suresh, who travelled to Sri Lanka in December 2014 and sold his kidney, after which he decided to become an agent for the racketeers. He lured at least 14 people from Telangana, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka to sell their kidneys, said CCS officials.
Detective Department DCP Avinash Mohanty said the Letter Rogatory issued by the Hyderabad court had to be sent to the Sri Lankan court after the MHA authorised it.
"The MHA asked clarification on it two or three times and we have sent them replies. We are expecting MHA to issue authorisation at any point of time and we will then send a team to Sri Lanka and record the statement. In Sri Lanka, kidney transplantation of unrelated donors is legal. So we can only make him a witness, though he is named as the 10th accused in the case. We will file the chargesheet after this," Mr Mohanty said on Thursday.
The case was booked under the IT Act and the Transplantation of Human Organs Act, based on a complaint by one Ganesh Kumar Maroo. His relative, Dinesh Kumar Maroo, died in Sri Lanka, where he had gone to 'donate' his kidney.
Police said there were 58 'donors' and each was paid Rs 5 lakh, though they were promised Rs 30 lakh. The remaining amount went as commission to the accused. Police said Nawaloak Hospital, Western Hospital and Lankan Hospital, all in Colombo, had Indian donors for kidney transplants. The agent took Rs 50,000 as commission for each donor. Earlier, he had sold his kidney for Rs 5 lakh, said senior CCS officials.
It was in 2016 that the Sri Lankan connection to the racket came to light. Agent Suresh had registered himself on ineedkidney.com and had given his contact number. Agents began contacting him and in December 2014 he flew to Colombo. After coming back, he learnt the trick of the trade and became an agent, said the official.
The racket was busted and Hyderabad CCS police nabbed Suresh and a few donors. Three persons were arrested in connection with this.
