- Five doctors are among six people arrested in the Kanpur kidney racket
- Kidneys were allegedly bought for Rs 10 lakh and sold for Rs 60 lakh by the accused
- The racket was exposed by a student who claimed he was paid Rs 50,000 less
A dispute over Rs 50,000 has exposed an illegal trade in human organs worth crores in Kanpur. Five doctors are among six people arrested in the kidney racket that saw illegal surgeries being done on at least 40 people, including foreigners. Kidneys were allegedly bought for Rs 10 lakh and sold for Rs 60 lakh, but what blew their cover was a dispute with a student, who had sold them his kidney, over a rather smaller sum of Rs 50,000.
Ayush, an MBA student from Samastipur in Bihar, had alerted the police about the kidney racket. A student in Meerut, he had struck a deal with the accused to sell one of his kidneys for Rs 10 lakh due to financial hardship. However, he alleged that he had been defrauded. He claimed he received only Rs 9.5 lakh, which was Rs 50,000 less than the agreed sum.
Furious over being paid less, he dialed the cops.
As the investigation began and leads trickled in, the police found out about Shivam Agarwal, an ambulance driver who used social media platforms like Telegram to lure financially vulnerable youth.
Ayush, too, had fallen in his trap. While he was promised Rs 10 lakh, the accused had allegedly extorted Rs 60 lakh from the family of Parul Tomar, a patient from Muzaffarnagar who was in dire need of a kidney.
Based on their leads, joint raids were conducted by the police and health department late Monday night at three hospitals in the Kalyanpur area, including Ahuja Hospital, Priya Hospital, and Med Life Hospital. During the raid, Med Life Hospital was found operating without registration.
The police also recovered Ayush and Parul from the hospital premises. Since Ayush's condition was critical, he was shifted to a government hospital.
They also arrested Dr Surjit Singh Ahuja, owner of Ahuja Hospital, his wife Dr Preeti Ahuja, Dr Rajesh Kumar, Dr Ram Prakash, Dr Narendra Singh, and Shivam Agarwal. A search is underway for four other doctors, alleged to be the masterminds behind this nefarious operation.
Among those still at large is Dr Afzal, whose primary role was visiting dialysis centers to identify patients and persuade them to undergo kidney transplants. Raids are also underway for Dr Rohit and Vaibhav Anurag, the main doctors in the surgical team.
Police Commissioner Raghuveer Lal indicates that the racket was not just active in Kanpur but that it could have links to Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, and even Nepal. It is believed to have carried out between 40 and 50 illegal transplants, including on foreigners, he said.
Med Life Hospital has been sealed, and Rs 1.75 lakh and a large quantity of banned life-saving drugs have been seized from its premises. Chief Medical Officer Hari Dutt Nemi said that proceedings have been initiated to cancel the registration of Ahuja Hospital and Priya Hospital as well.
Action is being taken against the accused under the Transplantation of Human Organs Act, 1994, and relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita (BNS).
(With inputs from Arun Agarwal)
