Busted interstate kidney racket has international links

International links are now emerging from the kidney racket gang that was arrested by the police on Thursday. The gang, of which four men and a woman have been arrested till now, have allegedly told police officials that kidney donors were sent to countries like Sri Lanka and Iran.

Sources in Delhi Police's Crime Branch have told DNA that they are currently scanning the various accounts of the gang members which they had opened in various parts of the country, to verify the gang members' claims. They also stated that during investigations a name of a prominent hospital in Colombo, Lanka Hospital, where an illegal kidney transplant has allegedly been carried out. Around two years back a donor was allegedly sent there from India.

The arrested gang members are Jayant Sahoo alias Rahul Sahoo (32), Sulekha Panda (27), Anoj Patra (33) and Birju Paswan (45).

Police sources also revealed that Jayant Sahoo has claimed that he has been in the business for over five years now and has conducted 15 kidney operations till date for which the gang has so far received an estimated Rs 6 crore in revenue.

Sahoo claimed that each kidney donation would cost between Rs 15-30 lakh. In order to ensure the transactions did not come under suspicion, the gang members would receive the money in parts which they would deposit in various accounts across the country.

Jayant also told the interrogators the kingpin of the kidney racket was Srikant Sahoo who is still at large. He also revealed that Sahoo had used multiple names in order to conceal his identity.

The gang's kidney racket was unearthed after a month-long operation that involved the use of a decoy donor, 24-year-old Jaideep Sharma. A MBA student from Pune, Sharma was contacted by the gang online and introduced to Jayant Sahoo. Sahoo was told by Jayant that he would receive Rs 4 lakh for donating his kidney and papers were subsequently forged to show as a member of the recipient's family.

The forged documents were allegedly submitted to Batra hospital where the kidney operation was supposed to have taken place. However, in a press release on Friday the hospital has said, "All the transplant act guidelines are followed. All documents are checked. There is no involvement of the hospital in any wrongdoing. The hospital has and will fully cooperate with police."

Meanwhile, police officials had put spy devices on Sharma over the month-long operation. On the other hand, gang members had given him a complete makeover so he would remain unrecognisable to anyone. The MBA student was eventually rescued on Thursday in Hauj Rani.

Meanwhile, Delhi Police continued raids to finds donors who had been hidden away by the gang. On Saturday, they rescued two youths who were brought to the Capital for kidney transplant, one of them was scheduled for a transplant in the coming months at Batra hospital. One, Rajendran was found in Paharganj and Shehzad from Hauj Rani.

Police officials state that Shezad, 27, who had come from Bihar was debt ridden and was promised Rs 4.5 lakhs for the kidney transplant. His transplant was to take place in the coming months. All his documentation was ready and only the final interview was left. Rajendran, 26, he had come from Cuttack in Orissa. He had to arrange funds for his sister's wedding and hence he had agreed to the transplant for which he was promised Rs 3.5 lakhs.