Kanpur kidney racket: Donors paid Rs 5L, patients charged Rs 80L in multi-state organ trade

Kanpur: A kidney transplant racket busted in Kanpur has uncovered a sprawling criminal network that preyed on poverty, desperation and critically ill patients, with links stretching across several states and even beyond India’s borders.

What began as a complaint over underpayment to a donor quickly unravelled into a well-organised syndicate involving middlemen, private hospitals and suspected involvement of medical professionals. Investigators said the operation extended beyond Uttar Pradesh, indicating a coordinated inter-state network.

At the centre of the case is Ayush, a resident of Samastipur in Bihar who had been living in Meerut. Facing financial hardship, he was allegedly lured through intermediaries and messaging platforms such as Telegram with a promise of Rs 10 lakh in exchange for donating his kidney.

Ayush was brought to Kanpur where the deal was finalised before he was taken to a private hospital in Keshavpuram for surgery. After the transplant, he was allegedly paid significantly less than the agreed amount. The payment dispute prompted him to alert the police, leading to the exposure of the racket.

Officials said the breakthrough followed weeks of surveillance. For nearly three weeks, police and the Special Operations Group had been tracking suspicious activities linked to illegal transplants. Acting on specific inputs, a joint team of the Crime Branch, SOG and the health department conducted coordinated raids on three hospitals on March 30.

The first raid targeted the hospital where the transplant surgery was carried out. Teams then moved to a facility in Kalyanpur where the recipient, identified as Parul Tomar, had been admitted, and later to a hospital on Panki Road where Ayush was being kept.

Investigators found glaring irregularities across all locations, including absence of valid documentation, missing transplant records and lack of satisfactory explanations from hospital authorities.

The probe revealed that immediately after surgery, donors and recipients were shifted to different hospitals to avoid detection. This separation ensured that scrutiny at one facility would not expose the entire chain.

Parul Tomar had reportedly been admitted under the pretext of gallbladder surgery. Hospital staff are said to have followed instructions from a person posing as a doctor over the phone without verifying credentials. Ayush, meanwhile, was kept in a small room at another hospital without proper medical supervision and was dependent only on intravenous fluids despite his deteriorating condition.

Officials said the racket followed a clear pattern. Economically vulnerable individuals were targeted as donors and promised large sums, while patients with kidney failure were offered quick transplants, bypassing long waiting periods.

The financial structure of the network was highly exploitative. Donors were promised between Rs 8 lakh and Rs 10 lakh but were often paid only Rs 4 lakh to Rs 5 lakh. In contrast, recipients were charged between Rs 60 lakh and Rs 80 lakh.

Middlemen played a central role in coordinating the operation. One of the key accused, Shivam Agarwal alias Shubham, allegedly posed as a medical professional to gain trust, connect donors with recipients and arrange hospital tie-ups.

Police said he had access to major hospitals and specifically targeted patients seeking urgent treatment. Investigators have also found that teams of doctors were allegedly brought in from cities such as Delhi and Lucknow to carry out surgeries, raising serious questions about the role of trained medical professionals. Authorities are examining whether they were knowingly involved.