A 50-year-old physician from Delhi's Indraprastha Apollo Hospital was taken into custody by Delhi Police last week on suspicion of participating in an organ transplant ring that operated in Bangladesh and India.
According to the officials, Dr. Vijaya Kumari, who is currently on suspension, was the only medical professional affiliated with the gang and had carried out about 15–16 transplants at the private Yatharth Hospital in Noida between 2021 and 2023.
Records from the alleged scheme indicate that patients from Bangladesh were attracted to major hospitals in the national capital region for organ transplants by Kumari and their associates, a network of middlemen. Three citizens of Bangladesh were also detained last month in addition to Kumari.
Claims have been made that false documents, claiming to be from the Bangladesh High Commission in New Delhi, were created to assert that the donor and beneficiary were related—a legal requirement in India. According to sources, these fake documents have also been taken into custody.
According to sources, Kumari, a senior consultant and kidney transplant surgeon, began working at Apollo Hospital over 15 years ago as a junior doctor. She wasn't employed by the hospital; rather, she was paid on a fee-for-service basis. According to Sunil Baliyan, Yatharth Hospital's additional medical superintendent, Kumari served as a visiting consultant for the facility and carried out transplants on patients she brought. "No patient of Yatharth was given to her and she had performed one surgery in the last three months," he stated.
"Indraprastha Apollo Hospitals (IAH) suspended the doctor in response to the police's action. An IAH representative added, "The Crime Branch had previously contacted IAH and requested specific information for an investigation, which was appropriately delivered. The spokesperson continued: "This action is subsequent to an investigation pertaining to procedures carried out at another hospital and prima facie not related to any action or acts at Indraprastha Apollo Hospitals."
In the current instance, a 29-year-old man named Rasel, his Bangladeshi pals Mohammed Sumon Miyan and Ifti, and Ratish Pal, who resides in Tripura, enticed potential contributors to Delhi from their nation. According to a source, they would donate their kidneys for Rs 4-5 lakh, while recipients would be paid Rs 25–30 lakh. All the suspects have been taken into custody, with the exception of Ifti.
"We learned about this following the discovery of a kidney racket in Rajasthan, where police were operating approximately three months prior. Every accused person is a first-time donor, and they pay the surgeon between Rs. 2-3 lakh for each transplant, according to the source.
According to sources, in this instance, donors and recipients arranged for their travel, care, and testing through Al Shifa, a medical tourism business. According to Section 164 CrPC, a victim's statement has been recorded and is admissible as evidence in court.
The Yatharth Hospital patient's medical records have reportedly been confiscated, revealing false paperwork from the Bangladesh High Commission, according to sources. "These documents show it was misused to complete the medical file linked to the transplantation record of the victim," according to a source.
According to sources, the authorities are currently looking into a network of organized crime. Vikram, who was assisting Kumari, was also taken into custody during the investigation.
It is documented that Rasel rented an apartment in Jasola Village. There were five or six donors residing in this rented apartment. Prior to the transplant, every test had been finished. A source stated that the donors and beneficiaries will also meet at the apartment. According to sources, Rasel, who is from Bangladesh's Kushtia area, named his friends as Mohammad Rokon, 26, and Miyan, 28, both of Dhaka. Both individuals were present in the apartment while the questions were being asked.
Nine passports, two diaries, and a record were found in a bag taken from Rasel's room during the arrests, according to reports. These passports belonged to kidney recipients and donors, and financial transactions between the donor and recipient are reportedly documented in the diary.
Another bag that the police are reported to have taken from Mohd Rokon had two stamp ink pads (red and blue) and twenty stamps with various imprints that were reportedly used to make the fake papers. Rokon was taken into custody as well.
(Input from various sources)
(Rehash/Priyanka Pandey/MSM)
