His middlemen would lure poor labourers and to avoid any delay, Dr Amit Kumar would test their blood group in his mobile lab. The donors would then be taken to the house, equipped with an operation theatre, where patients would be waiting for the transplant.

The police have identified four doctors involved and have arrested one of them, Dr Upendra Agrawal, a general physician who owns a Ballabgarh hospital. He was held along with his driver Jagdeesh, who doubled up as a middle-man.

Agrawal has been taken to Moradabad by the UP Police for further investigations as the complaint was filed by a victim there. The other accused, apart from Dr Raut alias Amit Kumar, are Dr Jeevan Kumar, the surgeon who carried out the operations and Dr Saraj Kumar, a Shahadra resident and anaesthetist.

Agrawal and Amit Kumar met when Agrawal’s sister- in-law required a kidney transplant. “Following the operation, the duo seems to have begun working together,” said DCP Rakesh Arya, in charge of the investigations in Gurgaon. Gurgaon’s Commissioner of Police Mohinder Lal, said: “We are not sure whether the operations were carried out under pressure or threats and are investigating the matter.” He added that the donors were given between Rs 75,000 and Rs 1 lakh.

It was a fight over money between a middleman and the donor that finally blew the lid off the scandal. The donor, Vidya Prakash Jatav alias Pappu, lodged a case with Civil Line police station of Moradabad, saying Dr Agrawal and his associates forced him to undergo an operation in Guragaon. He said he came to know that his kidney was removed and sold. Jatav told the police that when he protested, he was told that his life was not precious. Jatav, who used to be a labourer in Gurgaon, is now back in Moradabad.

... contd.