Kidney racketeers sent 21 victims to Sri Lanka, doctor sold kidneys to hospitals - report
April 23, 2014 08:44 am
Indian police have found that the kidney racketeers, who had sent deceased victim
Dinesh Maroo to Sri Lanka, had sent as many as 21 people from different parts
of Andra Pradesh to Colombo for kidney surgeries in the last few months, Indian media reports.
Two
of the three arrested accused, D.S. Pavan Srinivas, an MBA student, and N.
Venkatesham, were working for the racket led by a Lankan doctor, who would give
them huge commissions for every case.
Srinivas,
25, who is a resident of BN Reddynagar of Vanasthalipuram, had already sold his
organ to the same Lankan doctor, known as “Monik”, several months ago. “He came
back to the country and started working for the doctor. He convinced the
victims by showing his experience,” said an investigation official.
Another
accused, Surya Narayana, from Vijayawada, worked as an agent to mislead police
investigation and media. “He also extorted money from two other agents in the
last six months,” a police officer said. The Lankan doctor allegedly sells each
kidney for Rs 30 lakh to Rs 50 lakh to hospitals in Sri Lanka, and pays Rs 5
lakh to Rs 15 lakh to the victims. “The doctor contacts other hospitals in
Lanka and according to the need, gets donors from India. Srinivas and
Venkatesham would find people from the state and send them to Colombo. So far
they have sent as many as 21 people, of whom, few have donated and few have
not,” said commissioner of police Anurag Sharma.
The
police chief confirmed that Dinesh Maroo, who died in Colombo, had not
undergone transplant surgery. “ He was about to be operated, Dinesh had gone to
the beach with another Indian, Aram Zargar. There he had consumed beer and
smoked heavily. After that, he started vomiting heavily and had difficulty
breathing. Though he was taken to a Colombo government hospital, the doctors
declared him dead,” said the commissioner.
He
added that the racketeers used different websites to advertise and lure people
from different parts of the country. “This gang has several agents operating in
India from cities like Pune, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Bhubaneswar,
Kurukshetra etc.,” Mr Sharma said.
Another
victim, Kiran Kumar, from West Godavari, who had sold his kidney when he went
with Dinesh, said that he was undergoing the operation when Dinesh died. He
said that he was offered `3.9 lakh for his organ.
The
police has booked a case against the accused under AP Transplantation of Human
Organs Act apart from the IT act, Deccan Chronicle reports.