Telangana CID arrests 2 key accused from Chennai in kidney transplant racket

Hyderabad, May 29 (PTI) Two key accused in the case of inter-state human organ trafficking were arrested from Tamil Nadu in connection with the kidney transplant racket busted at a private hospital here in January, the Telangana CID said on Thursday.
    While as many as 13 accused persons had already been arrested in this case, a special team of CID, apprehended two more accused and on May 26 in Chennai and they were brought to Hyderabad on transit remand, Telangana CID Director General Shikha Goel said in a press release.
    The accused targeted innocent and economically disadvantaged individuals from Tamil Nadu by luring them with false promises of employment, she said.

    The victims were trafficked to Hyderabad, where illegal kidney transplants were conducted with the assistance of other accused persons. For each illegal transplant, the accused received a commission of Rs 10 lakh, out of which Rs 4–5 lakh were given to the donors, the CID DG said.

    Efforts are on to apprehend seven more absconding accused persons, police added.
    Earlier, the case was registered at Saroornagar Police Station here on January 21 this year, after teams of police, in coordination with health officials busted the racket of inter-state human organ trafficking under the guise of organ donation and transplantation.
    Inquiry revealed that a hospital operated without necessary approvals to conduct kidney transplant surgeries.
    
    Each recipient was charged approximately Rs 55 lakh to Rs 60 lakh, which was distributed among all those involved in the racket, and donors were paid between Rs 4 lakh and Rs 5 lakh, officials had said.
    Those arrested include two doctors, one of whom was the managing director of the private hospital, and five medical assistants, they had said. The case was later transferred to the CID.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)