Probing into the kidney racket at Indus International Hospital in Dera Bassi, Mohali police have traced another potential donor, a 40-year-old man, who was fraudulently presented as the younger brother of the Haryana-based recipient.
Without revealing his identity, police said the donor was facing financial crises and had decided to donate one of his kidneys for ₹5 lakh. Forged documents, showing him as the organ receiver’s younger brother, were prepared for the transplant.
The special investigation team (SIT) investigating the scam had earlier established that the hospital conducted 35 kidney transplants over the past two years, all performed by surgeon Dr Rajan Sharma, who has done over 400 kidney transplants during his nearly 25-year career.
Despite attempts, Dr Sharma remained unavailable for a comment.
Hospital’s medical director Dr SS Bedi has maintained that all legal procedures were followed for all transplants.
Two accused, including the hospital’s transplant coordinator Abhishek, who is accused of forging the donors’ documents, and a tout, Raj Narayan, who located the donors, have been arrested so far.
The scam had come to light after a donor Kapil Kumar 28, from Sirsa, Haryana, accused Abhishek of not paying him the promised ₹10 lakh in lieu of his kidney. He had posed as the son of the kidney recipient, Satish Tayal, 53, of Sonepat.
{{/usCountry}}The scam had come to light after a donor Kapil Kumar 28, from Sirsa, Haryana, accused Abhishek of not paying him the promised ₹10 lakh in lieu of his kidney. He had posed as the son of the kidney recipient, Satish Tayal, 53, of Sonepat.
{{/usCountry}}Kapil, who is under a debt of ₹7 lakh, has alleged that after the transplant, the gang paid him only ₹4.5 lakh and also did not provide him post-transplant care. He has alleged that Abhishek also threatened him.
The district health department has already suspended the hospital’s licence for kidney transplantation.
Dr Avnish Kumar, from the Directorate of Research and Medical Education (DRME), said the hospital got the licence for kidney transplants in 2021, adding that the hospital could also lose its registration if any negligence on its part comes to light during the probe.
A case under Sections 419 (cheating by personation), 465 (forgery), 467(forgery of valuable security, will, etc), 468 (forgery for purpose of cheating), 471 (using as genuine a forged 1[document or electronic record]) and 120 (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code, and Sections 19 and 20 of the Transplantation of Human Organ Act (THOA), was registered on March 18. The accused were arrested on March 19 and sent to judicial custody.
People needing organs were targeted through social media
Investigators said Abhishek and Raj Narayan, through their agents, were floating advertisements on Facebook and other social media platforms, offering availability of donors for critically ill kidney patients.
The gang would also collect data of such patients from clinics of nephrologists to target them. While most of the kidney recipients were from the tricity, Haryana and Punjab, the donors were from Odisha, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra.
The accused were maintaining a huge pool of donors and once a matching recipient was found, the accused, including Abhishek, would forge documents to present the donor as a blood relative.
ASP Darpan Ahluwalia, who is part of the three-member SIT investigating the scam, said, “During the probe, it has come to light that Abhishek and Raj Narayan are operating a well-oiled network of touts, and targeting their clients through Facebook and other social media platforms.”
Complainant addicted to cricket betting: SIT
Through investigation, the SIT has found that Kapil was addicted to betting on cricket matches and after collecting payment for his kidney, gave the money to a friend to place more bets. After losing the entire amount, he began pressing the organ recipient for the remaining money, revealed the police investigation.