With the arrest of a Chennai-based nephrologist, the Mumbai Police claimed to have unearthed a kidney transplant racket that lured poor people from across India and at least three other countries to donate their kidneys on the promise of large sums of money.

Apart from Dr Palani Ravichandran (42), who police say is the mastermind behind the racket, four of his accomplices have also been arrested. Dr Ravichandran was arrested in Chennai on Tuesday and brought to Mumbai, where a court remanded him to police custody for seven days.

“Dr Ravichandran had agents working for him in Mumbai, Gujarat, MP, Rajasthan, Delhi and other places in the country and also in Nepal, Sri Lanka and Myanmar. They lured poor, uneducated people to sell their kidneys for around Rs 3 to 4 lakh. However, once the kidneys were surgically removed, the accused would pay the donors only Rs 25,000 to 60,000 and also threatened them against lodging any complaint,” said Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime) Rakesh Maria. “Last year the accused sold kidneys of almost 100 people from Mumbai itself,” he said.

According to Maria, the donors were taken to two hospitals in Chennai — Bharathi Raja Hospital and New Bharathi Raja Hospital— where the kidneys were removed and transplanted.

Interestingly, according to information available with The Indian Express, the Authorisation Committee approving transplant surgeries in Tamil Nadu had cleared only six applications since February 1, 2007, of the Bharathi Raja Hospitals, where Dr Ravichandran had been operating. Whereas, according to reports, at least two surgeries were being conducted almost every week.

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