Vizag cops arrest 6 in kidney transplantation case

VISHAKHAPATNAM: Visakhapatnam police have arrested six persons in the illegal kidney transplantation case. They are, however, still looking for the key accused, who coordinated the sale of kidney between the donor, recipient and the hospital.

Health department and police have sealed the Tirumala Hospital, where the transplantation took place in December last year. “The hospital is yet to be registered,” said police commissioner C.M. Trivikram Varma at a media briefing in Visakhapatnam on Sunday.

The arrested have been identified as B. Elena, Madaka Kamaraju, Marra Srinu, Srinu’s wife Kondamma, Sekhar and owner of Tirumala Hospital Dr. Parameswara Rao.
Giving details, the commissioner said kidney donor G. Vinay Kumar had lodged a complaint with Pendurthi Police Station on April 26 that Kamaraju, Srinu and Kondamma had introduced him to Elena. He expressed his willingness to donate his kidney to a recipient for ₹8.5 lakh. Accordingly, he gave one of his kidneys for transplantation at Tirumala Hospital at Pendurthi during the last week of December 2022. After the transplantation, Elena paid his parents only ₹2.5 lakh even though they had shown him ₹5 lakh. Vinay Kumar sought criminal action against Elena and others, as they had cheated him by not paying the remaining agreed amount.

Trivikram Varma said Elena had donated her kidney in the past. She roped in Vinay with the help of Srinu, his wife Kondamma and Kamaraju. They introduced Vinay to one Narla Venkateswara Rao, who is the organiser and accused in a previous kidney transplantation case in 2019 at Shraddha Hospital, also in Visakhapatnam.

Venkateswara Rao arranged for Vinay to undergo clinical tests through a lab technician Sekhar. Venkateswara Rao then engaged Ramesh and Pavan to identify a hospital in Visakhapatnam for taking up the transplantation. Ramesh and Pavan approached Dr. Parameswara Rao of Tirumala Nursing Home, Pendurthi, between September and December 2022. They came to an understanding and Ramesh and Pavan paid ICU and theatre rental to Dr. Parameswara Rao for performing the operation in the third week of December 2022.

Elena and others did not pay the agreed amount of ₹8.5 lakh to Vinay Kumar and also did not take proper care of his health. Vinay Kumar’s parents demanded ₹1 lakh each from Kamaraju, Elena and Srinu for which they did not agree. Vinay Kumar then approached the police station.

It is said Tirumala Hospital had conducted two illegal kidney transplants in the past.

The commissioner said: “Around 30 to 40 kidney transplantations take place daily on an average in Andhra Pradesh. Two to five of these operations are carried out in Vizag. Of them, 10 percent could be illegal,” Trivikram Varma stated.