The Delhi Police on Friday arrested five people in an alleged kidney trade racket that they said has been in operation for years. Apollo Hospital, a prominent facility in South East Delhi, is at the centre of the illegal trading scheme, the police said, and two of the accused worked as secretaries to doctors at the hospital. According to the police, the accused brought people from all over the country to trade in illegal kidneys.
The donors were poor people from West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh, police said, and would be given Rs 3 lakh to Rs 4 lakh as well as hotel accommodation as part of the deal. The police received a tip-off that the gang had arranged a meeting at the hospital for potential buyers and the donors’ relatives on Thursday. The police raided the hospital and caught the accused, PTI reported.
Several of the touts had been involved in the business since 2014, and had even sold their own or their relatives’ kidneys since then. At least five sales have been made, the police said. The police recovered incriminating evidence including digital files and CDs, as well as fake identity cards. A case has been registered under the Indian Penal Code and the Transplant of Human Organ Act.
Apollo Hospitals released a statement saying, “We are co-operating and providing all information required to help the police in their investigation pertaining to the alleged kidney sale racket. The police in their investigation has identified secretarial staff of some doctors, who have been accused of being involved in the alleged racket. We reiterate that these are not employees of the hospital…We urge the police to take the strictest of action against all those involved.”
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