Kidney trade racket: Kingpin, three donors including couple arrested

Meanwhile, it has come to light that one of the recipients underwent kidney transplant surgery using fake IDs. The police, in all likelihood, will arrest the recipients at the earliest. 

A highly-placed source told Millennium Post that the SIT has arrested T Rajkumar Rao, the mastermind, from West Bengal. Rao is also involved in kidney racket cases in Tamil Nadu, Jalandhar, Coimbatore and has spread the nexus across countries like Indonesia, Nepal and  Sri Lanka. 

Rao was earlier arrested from Chennai along with a doctor who made him a tout. In 2014, they were released on bail and Rao shifted his base in Delhi.  The doctor’s license was suspended and his role is also being probed. Rao was using social networking sites to coordinate with his gang members.

“The arrested donors who have been sent to three days’ judicial custody have been identified as Umesh Shrivastav, his wife Neelu and Maumita who is the wife of Devashish Mauli,” said M S Randhawa, DCP (South-East).

During investigation, it came to light that the couple, who hailed from Kanpur, where Umesh used to work in a factory that deals in plaster of Paris. 

“Few months ago, they got to know that their only son was suffering from gangrene. Doctors told them that there is insufficient supply of blood in one of their son’s legs. On a regular basis, the patient is supposed to take injections that are very costly. Hence, Umesh took a loan from the owner of his factory but could not pay it back,” a source close to investigation said.

“Meanwhile, the doctor advised him to go for a surgery called revascularization that can cure the disease. In the meantime, he came in contact with Satya Prakash, one of the arrested touts. He recommended Umesh to sell off his kidney and when he agreed, Prakash brought him to Delhi in April. Umesh received Rs 3.5 lakh and his kidney was transplanted by changing his identity as Suresh Chand.”

“Further, when he started feeling normal after the surgery, Prakash again approached him and lured him to sell off the kidney of his wife too. This time, Umesh demanded Rs 5 lakh but the deal was finalised at Rs 4.5 lakh. By the name of Baby, Neelu sold off her kidney at Apollo hospital in May,” the source added.

Similarly, Devashish’s wife — Maumita, who hails from West Bengal sold off her kidney by the name of Neha in May at Rs 4 lakh.

While investigating the arrested accused including two secretarial staff of Ashok Sarin, the senior nephrologist, it was learnt that Aditya Singh and Shailesh Saxena were helping the touts in getting the files cleared from the Hospital Internal Authorization Committee. The committee includes hospital doctors (who were not part of the surgery), independent doctors and one government doctor.

“In Apollo, two internal committees were looking after the whole process and either due to negligence or conspiracy they became responsible for the racket. Each member has its role in the process and they will be questioned individually in the near future. Also, Sarin’s role is under scanner and it would be ascertained once he returns to India fromthe US,” a senior official said.