Doctor, gang coerced Bangladeshi targets to donate kidneys: Delhi Police

Taking advantage of victims’ financial background, the accused lured them to India on the pretext of providing jobs, said police

For three years, a 55-year-old doctor from Indraprastha Apollo Hospital, her aides along with a group of Bangladeshi nationals allegedly lured people from the neighbouring country to hospitals in Delhi and National Capital Region (NCR), confiscated their passports and transplanted their kidneys illegally. The gang also forged papers in the name of Bangladesh High Commission in New Delhi to show that the victims came to India to donate their kidneys to a relative, as mandated by the Indian laws, Delhi Police officers said on Tuesday.

Fifteen donors from Bangladesh, who were targeted by the gang. (File Photo)

The racket was busted last month, when a police head constable received a tip-off from a locality in Jasola village that a group of Bangladeshi men were staying in a small apartment. Locals told the head constable that the men came for kidney treatment, but hardly seemed to have the money to afford the treatment. Suspecting an organ transplantation racket, a team raided the apartment on June 16, and caught three Bangladeshi nationals — Md Rasel, Md Sumon Miyan and Md Rokon — along with a Tripura-based man, Ratesh Pal.

Further probe in the case led police to Dr Vijaya Kumari, a qualified kidney surgeon, who has been working with the Indraprastha Apollo Hospital (IAH) for at least 15 years. She was arrested on July 1, a police officer on condition of anonymity said on Tuesday.

“Fifteen donors from Bangladesh, who were targeted by the gang, have been identified,” said deputy commissioner of police (DCP) (crime) Amit Goel.

“Taking advantage of their financial background and exploiting them on the pretext of providing jobs in India, the accused lured these men to India and confiscated their passports after reaching Delhi. Rasel is the kingpin of the racket and would prepare forged documents in the name of Bangladesh High Commission of the donors and recipients to show a fake relationship between them. This was mandatory as only close relatives can be a donor,” said Goel.

“Kumari had complete knowledge of all the wrongdoings and performed multiple surgeries for the gang,” he added.

Police also arrested Kumari’s personal assistant Vikram Singh and lab technician Md Sharique on June 23 for their alleged involvement in the racket.

Kumari is an MBBS-MS surgeon and had degrees from foreign medical institutes as well. She was being paid ₹3-4 lakh for each operation. The Delhi Police Crime Branch are now investigating the role of three hospitals where she worked as surgeon and consulting doctor — IAH in Delhi and two other hospitals, investigators said.

They added that the surgeries were conducted in several hospitals located in Delhi-NCR, but did not confirm the names.

A spokesperson from IAH said that Kumari has been suspended.

During interrogation, police said that they found that the accused would regularly visit dialysis centres in Bangladesh and target “poor patients”.

Investigators found that Singh would assist in the preparation of patient files, forged documents and affidavits of patients and donors and used to charge ₹20,000 per person. Sharique used to charge ₹50,000 from each patient (recipient) and make appointments with the doctor, get their tests done (with donors) and complete other formalities.

Police said that they also seized forged documents from a Noida hospital where she worked as a consulting doctor.

Police said that the kingpin, Rasel, came to India in 2019 and donated his kidney to a patient. After this, he started the racket and coordinated between the doctors and middlemen. He used to get a commission of 20-25% on each transplantation. Among the other accused, Rasel’s brother-in-law, Miyan, was paid ₹20,000 for each patient/donor and another suspect, Rokon, used to forge the documents and was paid ₹30,000 for each patient/donor.