Kidney racket busted in Madhya Pradesh

Bhopal: An illegal kidney trade racket has been busted in Madhya Pradesh's Ujjain town, the police said on Saturday.

Four suspects were arrested Friday when the police conducted search operations on the eve of President Pratibha Patil's visit to the town, Superintendent of Police Manmeet Singh Narang said. According to him, the accused used to lure poor people, mostly those staying in government hospitals, on the pretext of getting them treated at better places free of cost.

"They would get unsuspecting people admitted to a private nursing home where their kidneys would be taken out," he said. "The racket is believed to have links in Chennai, Ahmedabad, Coimbatore and Indore."

Narang said the racketeers had admitted they took out and sold 15 kidneys, the last one of Rajesh, a restaurant worker.

Rajesh's kidney was sold for Rs60,000 (Dh5,141) and transplanted at Starlink Hospital in Ahemedabad, he said.

Two suspects, Soni Nadiad and Vinod Patel of Ahmedabad, are believed to be the masterminds behind the racket.

The police have registered a case. An investigation team has gone to Ahmedabad.