A kidney racket in Nagpur and other cities in Maharashtra

A kidney racket, which came to light after a man told a Patiala House court earlier this month that he was duped into selling his organ, appears to have spread its roots to as far as Nagpur and other cities in Maharashtra, said the Delhi Police crime branch.

The crime branch has arrested three persons Sunil Deshmukh (48), Rakesh alias Raju (39) and Dinesh Nikaju (34) from Nagpur this month. While Deshmukh and Nikaju are from Nagpur, Raju is a resident of Delhi. The mastermind, Sanjay Singh, is on the run. The gang's links with kidney kingpin Dr Amit Kumar cannot be ruled out, said the police. The racket is allegedly being run in collusion with top doctors and hospital staff in Nagpur.

The police said one Vikram Singh (22), who was arrested in an Arms Act case, had told additional chief metropolitan magistrate Ajay Pandey that a vagabond called Raju Kumar had promised to pay Rs 2 lakh for his kidney. When Vikram agreed, he was taken to Nagpur and put up in a hotel. He met the recipient, Anand Mohan, who also promised him a job. They than made a fake PAN card to show that Vikram was Mohan's brother. He was taken to Suretech Hospital in Nagpur to meet the doctors. "On April 17, they removed my kidney. After the operation, they put me up in another hotel, the bills of which I have submitted to the police. I remained in the hotel for about 45 days till the third week of May," said Vikram in his complaint to police. The police said Vikram was promised Rs 2 lakh for his kidney but Sanjay, the kingpin, paid him Rs 10,000 and Raju was also paid Rs 10,000.

Sunil Deshmukh, who was arrested from Nagpur on July 15, is second in command. "Sunil takes care of the logistics. He prepares the fake papers that show the donors as relatives of the recipients," said a senior police officer. The gang used to charge Rs 8-10 lakh from the recipients. The third accused, Nikaju, used to prepare forged papers including affidavits. "We are looking into the role played by doctors and hospitals where the kidney transplants were performed. Deshmukh is an important link as he had earlier worked as an administrator at Suretech Hospital in Nagpur," the officer said.

The police said the racket has been in operation for the past five years but the accused have been arrested for the first time.