UPDATE TUESDAY, 3:19 PM : The Delhi Police arrested three kidney donors on Tuesday for their alleged involvement in the illegal sale of the organ.The three persons arrested include two women from Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh and one person from Siliguri, West Bengal, ANI reported
ORIGINAL STORY: The Delhi Police, which busted an interstate kidney trade racket last week, said on Monday that it suspects the involvement of the staff, including senior doctors, at the Indraprastha Apollo Hospital, in the illegal trafficking of organs.
A nephrologist, whose two personal assistants were earlier arrested by the Delhi Police, is also on the list of suspects. An official privy to the investigation told the Press Trust of India that the nephrologist conducted a few kidney transplant procedures, which were facilitated by the racket. "However, so far there is no evidence to prove his intent but the roles of his personal secretaries are under scanner," he said.
Three senior doctors who were reviewing the documents of the kidney donors and recipients at the Apollo Hospital in Delhi are also likely to be questioned by the police.
The Delhi government has, meanwhile, ordered a separate probe into the incident to investigate the procedural lapses on part of the hospital.
The Apollo Hospital, while pleading not guilty in the case, has said that it was duped by organ traffickers into conducting kidney transplant procedures. The hospital said in a statement that the traffickers posed as relatives of the needy patients and produced fake/ forged documents before the hospital authorities to mint money from the patients, reported Reuters.
The Delhi Police had recently busted an illegal kidney trade racket in which five persons, including two personal assistants of a nephrologist at the Apollo Hospital, Delhi, were arrested.
The accused persons operated a network in states such as Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Delhi. The police said that these middlemen would first enquire about the number of kidneys required at Delhi's Apollo Hospital and later lure poor people into donating their kidney for a sum of Rs. 2 to 3 lakh per kidney, while the recipients were made to pay Rs. 25 to 30 lakh for the same.
All the kidney harvesting and transplant operations were conducted at Apollo Hospital, Delhi.
"While all due precautions were conducted, the use of fake and forged documents was used for this racket with a criminal intent," the statement read, according to Reuters. The hospital chain further said that it was the target of a well-orchestrated plan by the criminals to cheat patients .
While the hospital has initiated an independent enquiry into the case, it assured full cooperation with the Delhi Police and urged strictest action against all those involved.
The Delhi Police has launched a manhunt in Hyderabad where the kingpin of the racket, T Rajakumar Rao, is believed to be hiding. A 25-member Special Investigation team (SIT) has also been set up to further investigate the matter. The police also said that it would conduct raids at a few more private hospitals in Delhi.
