Kidney racket that lured donors, recipients from Bangladesh via Facebook busted: Gurgaon Police

During interrogation, it was revealed that the racket was run by Murtaza Ansari from Ranchi, Jharkhand, and he facilitated kidney transplants at Fortis Hospital in Jaipur, said ASI Tarun Kumar, the investigating officer in the case.

“A donor we found at the hotel contacted Ansari through a Facebook post…The deal was finalised at Rs 2 lakh for the kidney donor, while Rs 10 lakh was charged from the recipient. We are checking if the passports were original. So far, we have found that two operations took place, the recipient of one was at the hotel while the donor had gone back to Bangladesh. In the second case, the donor was at the hotel and the recipient was still at the hospital,” Kumar added.

Police said the surgeries were conducted at the Jaipur hospital after which they were brought to Gurgaon and made to stay at the hotel for 10-12 days before being sent back. “The accused was not at the hotel at the time of the raid,” said Kumar.

An FIR has been registered under the Transplantation of Human Organs and Tissues Act and sections 420, 120B IPC at the Gurgaon Sadar police station against Ansari and police are looking for him.

ACP(Sadar) Kapil Ahlawat said that they are checking for details of Ansari and how the Bangladesh nationals came to India.

Dr Pawan Chaudhary, Deputy Civil Surgeon, Gurgaon, said, “During the raid, we found that two people were yet to get the surgery done as they were found unfit for it. Earlier, a raid took place in Jaipur after which Gurgaon police were informed of the incident.”

According to the FIR, “…the guests were donors and recipients of kidneys and were treated at Fortis Hospital Jaipur…it was surprising to note that the donor and the recipient were not related to each other. When they were enquired about no-objection certificate or any permission from the authority as authorised under law, neither could produce any such document,” said the FIR.

The FIR stated that one of the donors said that he contacted Ansari after spotting an advertisement on Facebook. Police said a kidney from Shamim Mehndi Hasan, 24, was given to a 66-year-old man from whom Ansari took Rs 10 lakh. In the second case, a 30-year-old donated his kidney for Rs 2 lakh to a 25-year-old.

Speaking to the media at the hotel, Shamim said, “They arranged all the documents, including the passport. They brought me here two months ago. The passport was forged but I don’t know the details.”

Fortis Healthcare, in a statement, said it would fully cooperate with any ongoing investigation.

“Fortis Healthcare is committed to the highest ethical standards in healthcare, strictly following the SOTTO (State Organ and Tissue Transplant Organisation) protocols for organ transplants…each case is thoroughly evaluated…by the State Authorization Committee and obtains necessary government approvals…We have a zero-tolerance policy towards procedural deviations and we are committed to patient safety, care and transparency and ethical practices,” the statement added. A spokesperson said that a transplant coordinator at the hospital was found to have been involved with the racket, and action was taken against him by authorities last week.