Two Apollo hospital employees held for organ trade

Two employees of city-based Apollo hospital have been arrested along with three touts on charges of alluring needy people to donate their kidneys in exchange of money, police said on Friday.

Shailesh Saxena, 31, Aditya Singh, 24, both Apollo hospital employees, were arrested along with the touts Aseem Sikdar, 37, Satya Prakash, 30, and Devashish Moulik, 30, on Thursday, Deputy Commissioner of Police Mandeep Singh Randhawa said.

"Saxena has been working as PS (personal secretary) to a doctor at Apollo hospital for three years while Singh was working as a PS to another doctor of the hospital for four years," Randhawa said.

The Delhi Police on Monday got the information about the illegal trade of human organs at Apollo hospital but conducted raids on Thursday after getting a tip off about two such victims being taken to Delhi for their kidney donation.

"The members of the gang allured needy people from various parts of the country to donate their kidney in exchange of money. They also prepared forged papers including the identity proofs to establish the relationship between the donors and the recipients," Randhawa said.

The officer said that Apollo hospital staff was also involved in this racket.

"The recipients were highly charged whereas a small amount was paid to the donors. People falling prey come from various parts of the country like West Bengal, Kanpur in Uttar Pradesh, Delhi and Chennai in Tamil Nadu," the officer said.

Investigators found that the gang members have their local contacts in different states who bring donors to Delhi.

"The accused used to convince the needy to donate kidney in lieu of Rs 3-4 lakh. The donor once convinced he was brought to Delhi and made to stay in hotels. Medical tests of recipient and donor are conducted and once the compatibility match is done, operations are conducted in Apollo hospital," the officer said.

The officer further said that they have so far detected five such cases and seized a large number of original files, CDs and documents. "Investigation is in progress."

Sikdar, resident of West Bengal, used to organise boarding lodging of the donor, laboratory tests, meeting and negotiations, while Prakash, who joined the gang after donating his own kidney in 2014, used to identify the targets and brings them to Delhi from his home town in Kanpur.

Mauli, who also came in contact with the gang since 2014, targeted donors and brought them to Delhi from his hometown in West Bengal. He even made his wife Maumita donate a kidney a month back.

--IANS

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