Two months after an international kidney racket was busted at Mumbai airport, the police are now in the process of tracking down three other donors who were made to travel all the way to Cairo in Egypt to sell their kidneys for around Rs 5 lakh.
So far, Sahar police officials have identified two donors who hail from Andhra Pradesh and Kerala. After recording their statements and making them undergo medical tests, a 2,000-page long chargesheet was recently filed before the Andheri Metropolitan Magistrate Court.
Speaking to THE WEEK, Anil Kumbhare, deputy commissioner of police (Zone VIII) said the mastermind, Suresh Prajapati, who was running the kidney racket, was arrested in Ahmedabad, where he also runs Shiksha Consultancy, a visa and passport processing agency. “He was using his agency as a cover to run this international kidney racket. In fact, he was also previously involved in a kidney racket in 2016 where 52 kidney transplants were conducted using the Hyderabad to Colombo route. He had been arrested and let out on bail only because the chargesheet was not filed on time. His accomplice also managed to get a bail and then they switched to the Mumbai to Cairo route and continued with the illegal kidney transplants,” said Kumbhare.
Prajapti’s accomplice Urchinthala Nizamuddin was arrested in Mumbai airport on September 2 after his regular visits to Egpyt raised questions among immigration officials. After being interrogated, Nizamuddin confessed that recipients were made to cough up anywhere between Rs 22 lakh to Rs 40 lakh for getting a donor and undergoing a kidney transplant in Cairo’s Nile Badrawi hospital. The five recipients who have been identified include a car dealer from Mumbai, a businessman from Kashmir and the daughter of the mayor from Phagwara city in Punjab.
“The chargesheet includes five donors and five recipients. Initially, we had filed a case of human trafficking, but subsequently we found that they were illegally conducting kidney transplants following which the Human Organs Transplantation Act (HOTA) was added,” said Kumbhare.
“So far, we have been able to track down only two donors as most of them are labourer who have migrated to other places but are originally from villages in Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and other south Indian states. We have got the medical evidence as well of these two donors. What these donors have in common is that they were victims as their poor socioeconomic background was used against them. The problem is now with the recipients as they are either in ICU or isolation. Once their condition is stable, we will also call them to JJ Hospital in Mumbai for their medical examination and for recording their statements,” said Kumbhare. Prajapati managed to get bail recently only due to a technical point as he was first charged with human trafficking, he said, adding Mumbai police officials have requested for the cancellation of his bail.
“We filed the chargesheet because one of the accused in jail, Nizamuddin, is completing the period of 90 days. So, before that, it had to be done. We have also taken permission from the court for further investigations,” explained Kumbhare.
Police officials are also awaiting the return of another Indian citizen, Madhu Kumar, who is currently in Cairo and was responsible for making logistic arrangements for the stay of donors and recipients in Cairo to hospital visits.
