Kidney racket: Hiranandani Hospital CEO, 4 doctors sent to judicial custody

Mumbai: A sessions court on Saturday sent the CEO of LH Hiranandani Hospital in Powai and four other doctors, arrested in connection with alleged kidney transplant racket, to judicial custody till August 26.

The accused, who were arrested on Tuesday, were produced before the court on Saturday as their police custody was to expire on Sunday.

According to a report in The Indian Express, Powai police, in-charge of the case, told the court that they have finished the investigation and do not need further custody of the five accused.

The police are now looking into “three other transplants” at the hospital. They expect to arrest more people from the hospital in connection with the case.

“We are trying to find out for how long had the accused been in touch with each other and with Brijkishore Jaiswal, the intended recipient of the kidney transplant that was prevented recently and which blew the lid off the racket,” said an officer.

The arrested accused are hospital CEO Dr. Sujit Chatterjee, Medical Director Dr. Anurag Naik and the three other doctors – Prakash Shetty, Mukesh Shah and Mukesh Shete.

The racket was exposed after the police were tipped off that a kidney transplant operation had been scheduled on July 14 at the privately-run Hiranandani Hospital where donor and recipient were not related.

Following the bust-up, nine people including the donor, receiver, and agents were arrested.

The operation on Brijkishor Jaiswal, the recipient, was stopped at the last moment as police found that the woman who was donating the kidney to him was not his real wife, contrary to the papers submitted by the duo.

The woman had pretended to be Jaiswal’s wife only to be able to donate him the kidney for monetary gains, according to the police.