Kasparaju Suresh, a hotel management student, allegedly lured 15 people into illegal organ trade
A hotel management student in Hyderabad reportedly first sold his kidney and later, lured 15 others into illegal organ trade to support a lavish lifestyle.
With the arrest of the student, 22-year-old Kasparaju Suresh, the Nalgonda police in Telangana say they have busted an international kidney selling racket run from Colombo.
Suresh reportedly came across a website, ineedkidney.com, in November 2014 and through the site went for tests to Gujarat. After he was cleared, a passport and visa were arranged for him by agents and he was sent to Colombo. There, one of his kidneys was removed and he was paid Rs five lakh.
After four months of rest and stay at a Colombo hospital, he returned to India and turned an agent himself. Son of a daily wage labour, Suresh soon bought a car and a bike.
Police said he lured more than 20 people who were taken for tests to either Maharashtra or Gujarat, where trafficking agents Ambarish from Bhopal and Pratap from Ahmedabad operated. They used social media and whatsapp to scout for business. Three others arrested in Nalgonda in the case include Abdul Hafeez alias Qasim, Mahesh and Naresh, all three young donors.
The racket was unearthed after Hafeez's family objected to his lifestyle. He had bought a car despite quitting his job. He confessed to his family that he had sold a kidney through Suresh. They picked up a fight with Suresh, leading to the police being alerted.
Through Suresh, a reported 15 people underwent kidney removal for transplantation just in the last one year. These include four from Nalgonda district, four from Hyderabad, four from Bangalore, two from Tamil Nadu and one each from Delhi and Mumbai. Passports and visas were arranged by the agents for all of them to undergo surgery in Colombo.
Clients were charged up to Rs 27 lakh for each kidney, of which the hospital kept nearly half the money. The rest of the money was spent on tests, travel and accommodation for the donors, who got Rs 5 lakh in each case. The agents made Rs 50,000 in each case.
Three Colombo-based hospitals are suspected to be involved in the illegal trade. Cases have been registered under the Indian Penal Code and the Andhra Pradesh Transplantation of Human Organs Act.