Hyderabad: Vital cog of kidney racket held

Hyderabad: The Rachakonda cyber crime police, who busted an international organ transplantation racket earlier this month, have arrested one of the key persons, who works for a manpower recruitment consultancy in Delhi.

Police said Sandeep Kumar, 32, of Rokadiya Overseas Company in Delhi used to arranged the attestation of documents for those who wanted to travel abroad on medical grounds.

According to the police, the victim, a man from the city, in July 2018, stumbled upon a Facebook post in which one Rohan had written that a patient was in urgent need of a kidney. The victim got in touch with Rohan and expressed his interest to give his kidney. He was promised Rs 20 lakh for his kidney.

The victim was taken to Delhi for medical tests and for a cross-match test with the recipient. Rohan’s associate Rithika Singh met the victim in Delhi and introduced him to recipient Gagan Agarwal and his family. He was informed that he would be taken to Turkey where his kidney would be removed and transplanted to Agarwal.

Rithika used her contacts to arrange the documentation and got the attestation from the external affairs ministry at Delhi. The victim was then taken to Kent Hospital in Izmir, Turkey, where the transplantation was carried out illegally on August 27, 2018.

However, the victim was not paid the money that was promised to him and was sent back home. Following his complaint in February this year, the cyber crime police registered a case and arrested Rohan, Rithika and their leader, Amrish Prathap of Bhopal, on March 29.

During further investigation, sleuths arrested one Sandeep Kumar, 32, an employee at the Rokadiya Overseas Company in Delhi, who was the one arranging the visa stamping and attestation for the organ recipients at Rs 10,000 per stamping in order to facilitate the illegal transplantation.

A senior police official from the Rachakonda commissionerate said, “The manpower recruitment agency for which Sandeep works is recognised by the MEA. Having developed contacts with the officials, he processed the stampings, concealed the facts, and charged money for his services. He was held in Delhi and brought to the city on a transit warrant on Thursday.”