Doctors of Mumbai's Dr LH Hiranandani Hospital were arrested for involvement in kidney selling racket
Five doctors, including the CEO and director of a top private hospital in Mumbai were arrested on Tuesday for their alleged involvement in the kidney selling racket.
Dr Sujit Chattarjee (CEO), Dr Anurag Naik, Medical Director, Dr Mukesh Shete, Dr Mukesh Shah and Dr Prakash Shetty, of Dr LH Hiranandani hospital were arrested late on Tuesday night. This takes the total number of arrests to 12 in the case.
Last month, the police were tipped off that an illegal kidney transplants were being done at Hiranandani Hospital; in many cases donors and recipients were not related and the operations were performed based on fake documentation.
Police then started investigating and found that many from the hospital were involved in the racket. Following the investigation, seven people were arrested in July.
The hospital spokesperson said that they were conducting an internal inquiry and will only comment once it's over.
The doctors have been charged under The Transplantation of Human Organ Act, 1994, police said. The accused will be produced in court today.
A chronic shortage of organs available for transplant fuels a booming black market trade in the body parts in the country.
Millions of Indians suffer from kidney disease, mostly because of high rates of diabetes, hiking demand for transplants annually.