Delhi Police bust kidney racket at Apollo

The Delhi Police have busted a kidney transplant racket run out of the prestigious Apollo Hospital here with the arrest of five men. Two of the arrested persons worked at the hospital.

The law allows kidney transplants only between relatives. The gang, however, arranged fake IDs and found people willing to sell their kidney for patients admitted at the hospital.

The patients’s relatives paid about Rs 25 lakh for a kidney, out of which Rs 1-2 lakh went to the middlemen,” the police said.

The police are investigating where the rest of the money from the deals used to go, alluding to the possibility of more people being involved in the racket.

Two personal secretaries, working with two doctors at Apollo, were part of the racket and helped donors with the documentation.

They also used to inform the middlemen about the demand for kidneys at the hospital.

The involvement of the personal secretaries in the racket has led to speculation that other staff and the doctors themselves may be involved.

Apollo Hospital, however, denied involvement of their employees in the racket saying that the arrested men were “contractual staff”.

While all due precautions were conducted, forged documents were used in this racket with a criminal intent, the hospital said.

“The hospital has been a victim of a well-orchestrated operation to cheat patients and the hospital,” Apollo said in a statement.

The police said the gang used to convince donors into selling their kidneys for Rs 3-5 lakh. However, they used to charge Rs 20-30 from the buyers.

Detailed documentation and verification has to be done before kidney transplants.