Kidney scam: Custody of 60-year-old extended

MUMBAI: Andheri metropolitan court on Thursday extended the police custody of a 60-year-old man till October 19 in the kidney transplant case. He was arrested on

MUMBAI: Andheri metropolitan court on Thursday extended the police custody of a 60-year-old man till October 19 in the kidney transplant case. He was arrested on October 7.

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Saeed Khan, accused of forging documents required for kidney transplants, is the 15th person arrested in the case.

Appearing for Khan, advocate Balaji Gade argued in the court, “There is no need for further custody of the accused as there is no question of recovery from Khan.”

The investigating officer of the case was not present before the court and the Powai police informed the magistrate that due to two public holidays, there was little progress in the investigation surrounding Khan.

Khan, a resident of Mumbra, used to work at a shop near his residence. He used to coordinate with the agents and middlemen to forge documents required for the kidney transplant.

The illegal organ transplant racket was busted after the police, acting on a tip-off by activist Mahesh Tanna, stopped an illegal transplant of a Gujarati businessman. The intended kidney recipient, Brijkishore Jaiswal, 48, from Surat, had allegedly used forged documents to show that would-be kidney donor Shobhana Thakur was his wife. According to the police, one hospital employee Nilesh Kamble, 36, received Rs8 lakh for overlooking forged documents.