Tuesday, 22 April 2014 00:04
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Times of India (Hyderabad): Exploiting desperate patients in need of immediate kidney transplant and healthy individuals caught in financial hardships, an international organ trafficking mafia is luring people into buying and selling kidneys for huge amounts. The racket is thriving in South Asian countries like Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Singapore and Malaysia where laws against organ donation are not very stringent, police sources said.
In India, kidneys can only be donated to a person with renal failure by his family members or relatives. The sale of kidney is strictly prohibited and it was to prevent illegal practices that the Centre enacted the Transplant of Human Organs Act in 1994. The latest kidney transplant racket came to light in Hyderabad when 26-year-old Dinesh Kumar, a private employee from Kothagudem, was found dead in Colombo on 30 March.
Dinesh, who wanted make some quick money to get out of financial problems, decided to sell one of his kidneys and began scouting on the web for a contact. He found several agents and finally struck a deal through one Prashant Seth of Bangalore for Rs. 15 lakhs. The agents then sent Dinesh to Colombo and also paid him an advance amount. But before the kidney transplant could occur, Dinesh died due to ill health. Enquiries conducted by his family members later revealed the existence of the kidney transplant racket.
Central Crime Station sleuths, who are probing the case, have begun already picked up three suspects. They revealed during interrogation that people in need of money from India are being lured into selling their kidney and then taken to countries like Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Singapore and Malaysia, where the patient would be waiting for a transplant. “Pakistan is a low cost country, but due to stringent visa rules, only a few patients go there. In fact, in Pakistan, it takes about Rs. 20 to 25 lakhs for a transplant, which is cheaper than anywhere else in the world,” a CCS official said.
The next best country for a patient looking for a transplant is Sri Lanka due to plethora of private hospitals doing the transplants and availability of ‘donors’ from India. Transplants in Malaysia and Singapore are on the costly side at about Rs. 50 to Rs. 70 lakhs.
“Only 1% of the patients diagnosed with renal failure get a kidney transplant in India annually. The organ trafficking mafia is exploiting this situation by luring poor donors with a promise of paying up to Rs. 15 lakhs. The transplant is being carried out in various South Asian countries.
“We are questioning several suspects and the kingpin will be nabbed soon,” CCS DCP G. Pala Raju said.
