3 arrested in international kidney transplantation racket

Cybercrime slueths of Rachakonda in Telangana have arrested three people for allegedly running an international kidney transplantation racket.

Among those arrested are Amrish Prathap, kingpin of the gang along with his two accomplices namely Sandeep Kumar and Rinkey. After producing them in a Delhi court, the police have brought them to Hyderabad on a transit remand.

Mahesh Bhagwat, Commissioner of Police, Rachakonda, said, "On February 5, Commissioner of Police, Rachakonda had received a complaint from a victim who. He stated that in July last year, he saw a post on Facebook with the caption 'Kidney needed in India' posted using the profile name 'Rohan Malik'. On seeing the post, he contacted Rohan Malik through his WhatsApp number, who told the victim that they will pay him huge sum of money if he sells his kidney."

Bhagwat added, "To meet his financial problems, the victim accepted the offer of Rohan Malik who promised to pay him Rs 20,00,000. Considering the offer, on July 20, 2018, the victim went to Delhi, where he was received by Malik, who accommodated him at a hotel in Noida. He stayed there for seven days and attended all the required medical examinations. On August 11, 2018, Malik informed the victim about his travel to Turkey for surgery and removal of the complainant's kidney. On August 13, 2018, they took him to Hotel Lemon Tree where the complainant was made to meet Dr. Rithika Singh of Delhi who introduced him to the patient 'Gagan Agarwal' and his family members."

Before travelling to Turkey, Malik and Rithika Singh prepared forged documents and purported them to be genuine and legal so as to conduct surgery at a hospital in Turkey, police said.

"On August 27, 2018, the kidney transplantation surgery was conducted at a hospital. After the surgery, one of the gang members there refused to pay him the promised money to the victim, which led to a clash," Bhagwat said.

After being threatened by them, the victim pleaded them, collected his passport and returned to India, the officer said.

"Based on the complaint a case under Section 120 (B), 417, 420, 468,471, 370, 506 of the Indian Penal Code, and Section 18,19,20,21 of Transplantation of Human Organs Act 1994 was registered and the police formed a special team to nab the accused The special team kept surveillance over the activities of the accused. On March 28, Amrish Prathap was arrested from Delhi airport after he landed from Singapore. Based on the information given by him, two others were also arrested in Delhi and all the three were produced in the local court," Bhagwat added.

Police have also seized one laptop, seven mobile phones, one stamping machine, one laser printer-cum-scanner, three debit cards and three credit cards from the accused.