'Kingpin' of kidney trade held; cops to inspect hospitals

The Ramanagar police have arrested a man suspected to be the kingpin of kidney trade which thrives in and around Bengaluru.

Police believe that Suresh, a resident of Kamakshipalya, played multiple roles in the illegal enterprise. He was a tout who looked out for rich people suffering from renal failure and poor individuals in desperate need of money. He was in touch with some doctors in Bengaluru and Mysuru, and created fake documents to ensure the kidney sale actually looked like a “genuine donation”.

Police started hunting for Suresh last week after stumbling upon a case in which a woman from Magadi sold off her kidney for Rs three lakh to repay loans. They picked him up from the outskirts of Bengaluru on Tuesday and claimed that he had “confessed” to involvement in the illegal trade.

Shashikala, the woman in question, had donated her kidney to Lalithamma, the mother of Srinivas. Srinivas and his relative Hemanth Kumar were arrested last week. A few others—identified as Suma, Kidney Manja, Manjunath, all from Magadi, and Mahadeva of Ramanagar — were also detained for questioning.

Police found that fake documents were created to facilitate the surgery at Vikram Hospital in Mysuru on June 26. Suresh played a vital role in this deal. “He has been engineering the kidney trade in and around Bengaluru. We arrested him after he confessed to the crime during the interrogation.

We are investigating whether he is involved in more illegal donations of kidney,” said a senior police officer investigating the case. Police have decided to inspect a few hospitals in Bengaluru and Mysuru where renal transplants take place.

The officer also suspected a link between the recent kidney trade and a few cases that came to light in 2012.

According to him, a gang is still active around Ramanagar and Magadi.
As for the illegal donation by Shashikala, preliminary enquiry has revealed that her husband Venkatesh was in touch with Suresh much before the surgery took place. Venkatesh and Suresh agreed for a deal of Rs 10 lakh for Shashikala’s kidney. They later disagreed over sharing the money and that’s how the police got wind of the crime.

Police said they were convinced about Venkatesh’s involvement even though Shashikala had vouched for his innocence. They have launched a manhunt for him. Shashikala had contested the Taggikuppe Gram Panchayat elections about three years ago and lost by two votes. She had borrowed heavily for electioneering and defaulted on loans. She decided to sell one of her kidneys.

Police have decided to book the recipient and the donor in Shashikala’s case.