Kanpur kidney racket busted: The Kanpur Police of Uttar Pradesh on Wednesday busted a sprawling kidney transplant racket operating across multiple private hospitals of the city. The police said they arrested five doctors and have also launched a manhunt for four other persons, suspected to be the masterminds of the illicit racket. 

According to police, the racket involved unauthorised kidney transplants on as many as 50 individuals, including foreign nationals, across Indian cities such as Mumbai, Kolkata, Delhi and even extending into Nepal. 

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Donor cheated by accused exposes racket

The racket was laid bare after an MBA student from Bihar, named Ayush, complained to the police that he was duped by the racket’s operatives. He alleged that he had agreed to sell his kidney for Rs 10 lakh due to financial distress. However, when the operatives failed to hand him over the amount, he approached the police. The investigating police personnel said that the network operated on staggering profit margins. The accused purchased kidneys for Rs 10 lakh and sold them for nearly Rs 60 lakh. The cops added that a dispute ensued over a payment of Rs 50,000, blowing the lid off the syndicate. 

Racket had been operating at these hospitals in Kanpur

Acting on a tip-off, the Kanpur Police, along with a team from the health department, conducted late night raids across multiple facilities in the city’s Kalyanpur area Tuesday late night at the Priya Hospital, Ahuja Hospital and Med Life hospital. Authorities discovered that several illegal transplants had been carried out at these centres. Notably, Med Life Hospital was operating without a valid registration and was sealed by the team. The police also seized Rs 1.75 lakh in cash along with a stockpile of banned life-saving drugs from its premises. 

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These doctors fall into police dragnet

As per police, they laid hands on five doctors identified as Dr Surjit Singh Ahuja, his wife Dr Preeti Ahuja, Dr Rajesh Kumar, Dr Ram Prakash and Dr Narendra Singh, along with recruiter Shivam Agarwal. Police said they are searching for other accused named Dr Afzal, Dr Rohit and Vaibhav Anurag, who are believed to have played crucial roles in the operation.

Racket lured people through messaging apps

The investigating police personnel said that the racket’s operatives lured economically vulnerable youths via messaging applications such as Telegram. Kanpur Police Commissioner Raghuveer Lal told the media that the network’s scale points to a deeply entrenched inter-state and cross-border nexus. He added that administrative action is now underway, and licenses of the hospitals involved will be cancelled. Meanwhile, a probe will continue to unearth the full extent of the illegal organ trade. Also read: Techie couple found dead in Bengaluru in suspected suicide pact, marital discord emerges as possible factor