Kanpur: The kingpin of the illegal kidney transplant racket is a Class VIII dropout who convinced a fourth-year MBA student to sell his kidney for Rs 6 lakh. The racket’s connections extending beyond Kanpur to Lucknow, Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Nepal, with the accused using Telegram to lure poor people to sell kidneys for Rs 5-10 lakh and selling them to wealthy patients for Rs 60 lakh-1 croreThe victim revealed that Shivam Agrawal, an ambulance driver whom he met through Telegram, motivated him by talking about big celebrities. Shivam pointed out that even megastar Amitabh Bachchan is living with one kidney and is still active in films. He also mentioned spiritual leader Premanand Maharaj, whose kidneys are damaged. The student was convinced by Shivam’s arguments and agreed to sell one of his kidneys.Police on Tuesday claimed to have uncovered an alleged illegal kidney transplant racket operating through private hospitals in the city and arrested six people, including a doctor couple, three other doctors and an ambulance operator. Commissioner of Police Raghubir Lal said the racket appeared to have links extending beyond Kanpur to Lucknow, Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Nepal.Preliminary investigation suggests that around 40 to 50 kidney transplants may have been carried out through the network in different private hospitals in the city. The police are currently raiding and searching for two more doctors involved in the case. The probe has linked seven more hospitals, one in Lucknow and six in Kanpur, to the racket.Police revealed that Shivam, from Devi Sahaynagar in Kalyanpur, would dress up as a doctor to deceive people. He was in touch with Dr Rohit, Dr Preeti Ahuja from Ahuja Hospital, and Dr Surjeet Ahuja. Shivam got in touch with a Dehradun-based MBA student struggling financially, and convinced him to sell his kidney for Rs 6 lakh.During questioning, Shivam admitted that the victim was initially hesitant to donate his kidney. To convince him, he cited examples of celebrities like Big B and Swami Premanand Maharaj, and showed videos of people living healthy lives with one kidney. The promise of lakhs of rupees ultimately swayed him to agree.Lal said that the victim has been admitted to Lala Lajpat Rai Hospital for treatment. Several mutual accounts have also been found with him. Once his health improves, he will be questioned about these.The accused in the kidney transplant racket have strong connections to Meerut, Noida, and Delhi. Surgeons, anesthesiologists, OT assistants and staff nurses used to come to the city from Meerut at scheduled times. They would perform the kidney transplant at the designated nursing home and leave. After this, the patient and the donor were admitted to separate private hospitals. During the entire process, the hospital did not create a file for the kidney patient or prepare a Bed Head Ticket (BHT) for the donor. Post-surgery, treatment details were scribbled on plain paper with no nursing home or doctor stamps.Lal revealed that Shivam knows his way around operations and surgeries and has connections with ambulance drivers from Meerut, Noida, and Delhi. These drivers often bring patients from the NCR region to Kanpur and nearby areas, and some even operate Advanced Life Support (ALS) ambulances. Shivam’s contacts include Dr Rohit from Noida, Dr Afzal from Meerut, and others like Dr Anurag. Dr Rohit, an anesthesiologist, is linked to a big Meerut nursing home. The police are on the lookout for themAs part of the ongoing probe, the health department has taken action against Medlife Hospital, sealing it on the second day, and issued notices to the other two hospitals, Ahuja Hospital and Priya Hospital, to shut down.ACMO Dr Ramit Rastogi said that Medlife has been sealed. Ahuja and Priya Hospital have been issued notices to keep the hospitals closed until the investigation is complete. During this period, they have been directed to shift admitted patients to other places and keep the hospitals closed.
