A blood bank in Uttar Pradesh was shut down during a raid conducted by the health officials on Friday after three minor boys, who were lured into donating blood for quick money, were declared unfit due to low haemoglobin levels.
Minors are not legally allowed to donate blood since the minimum haemoglobin level of the donor should be 13. In this case, the teenagers were below the legal age and had lower blood count.
The boys, who belong to financially weak families, reportedly wanted to make some quick money. One of them disclosed that he wanted to make money to buy a smartphone.
"I have been saving money for some time to buy a cell phone. When an agent from the blood bank told me that I could earn some money, I couldn't resist," The Times of India quoted the minor as saying.
Another one revealed that he wanted an extra income to cover his daily expenses and that he did not want to be a burden for his breadwinning mother. "A few bucks in a month through blood donation provide me enough 'pocket money'," he told TOI.
The police have reportedly arrested three people in connection with the case, including two agents, Ghazni and Rahul, who had lured the boys into blood donation.
