KANPUR (UP), Mar 31 : Uttar Pradesh Police has identified four more suspects as it widened its probe into an illegal kidney transplant racket operating through multiple private hospitals in Kanpur.
Earlier on Tuesday, the police arrested five doctors and the alleged kingpin of the racket, officials said.
The arrests followed late-night raids conducted on Monday at Med-Life Hospital, Ahuja Hospital, and Priya Hospital in the Kalyanpur area, by a joint team of police and health department officials led by Chief Medical Officer Haridutt Nemi, said Commissioner of Police Raghubir Lal.
Ahuja Hospital owners Dr Preeti Ahuja (50), her husband Dr Surjeet Singh Ahuja (54) and medical practitioners Rajesh Kumar (44), Ram Prakash (40) and Narendra Singh were arrested for facilitating unlawful organ transplants, the commissioner said.
Police have also arrested the alleged mastermind, Shivam Agarwal (32), who reportedly impersonated a doctor, he added.
Later in the day, the investigators identified four more individuals involved in the crime.
“The names of four more individuals — Dr Afzal, Dr Rohit alias Rahul, Anurag alias Amit and Vaibhav — have surfaced during the investigation. Search operations are underway to trace the accused individuals, who are currently absconding. We believe their arrest could expose a much larger network involving more doctors and private hospitals. We suspect the racket extends beyond initial findings, with possible interstate links and organised coordination,” Lal told PTI.
The racket came to light when a donor, Ayush, an MBA student originally hailing from Bihar, approached the police over a payment dispute. He complained that he received only Rs 3.5 lakh out of the agreed amount of Rs 10 lakh for his kidney.
The tip-off triggered immediate raids and arrests, an official said.
Preliminary findings suggested that Ayush’s kidney was procured for Rs 10 lakh and sold to a patient, Parul Tomar of Meerut, for Rs 60 lakh, pointing to a profit-driven network exploiting vulnerable individuals, police said.
The donor was admitted to Med-Life Hospital, while the recipient, who had reportedly been battling kidney failure for eight years, was shifted to another facility, they said.
However, both the donor and the recipient were later admitted to Lala Lajpat Rai Hospital for further treatment as their condition reportedly deteriorated after the surgery.
A case has been registered against the six accused under Section 143 (trafficking of persons) and 3(5) (criminal act done by several persons in furtherance of a common intent) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and relevant sections of the Transplantation of Human Organs and Tissues Act.
The alleged mastermind of the racket, Shivam Agarwal, impersonated a doctor and lured donors through Telegram groups. The network reportedly targeted financially distressed individuals and dialysis patients, connecting them through illegal channels, Commissioner Lal said.
So far, the police have recovered evidence of over a dozen illegal transplants, with the kingpin reportedly confessing to 50-60 such transplants across Kanpur in the last two years, he said.
According to the police, the network is suspected to have links to Lucknow, Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, and even Nepal.
Authorities also flagged the involvement of foreign nationals in some cases, raising serious concerns over the violation of transplant norms, which require strict government approval, especially for unrelated or overseas donors.
The three hospitals have been issued notices seeking an explanation on patient admissions and transplant procedures, Additional Chief Medical Officer Ramit Rastogi told reporters, adding that there is a possibility that their licences could get cancelled.
Police have also revealed that a South African woman, Arbica, underwent a kidney transplant on March 3. Though intelligence inputs had flagged the case earlier, officials said the information could not be acted upon in time. (PTI)
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