Telangana CID arrest two more accused in human organ trafficking case

Hyderabad, July 23 (IANS) Telangana CID has arrested two more accused, including the prime accused, in the inter-state human organ trafficking case.

Pamulapati Pavan Kumar and Pradeep Kumar Gupta have been arrested in the case relating to inter-state human organ trafficking under the guise of organ donation and transplantation.

Pavan Kumar, a native of Tadepalligudem in Andhra Pradesh, was apprehended at LB Nagar in Hyderabad, while Gupta, a resident of Haryana, was arrested at Chandigarh.

Both were produced before a magistrate in Hyderabad for judicial remand, Additional Director General of Police, CID, Charu Sinha, said.

With the arrest of the two accused, the number of accused arrested in the case so far has gone up to 19.

According to the CID, Pavan Kumar is the prime accused in the case, and in connivance with other accused, Dr Rajashekar and Dr Avinash and other doctors, had arranged donors and recipients for illegal kidney transplantation surgeries done at Alakananda, Janani, and Aruna Hospitals in Hyderabad.

Pavan Kumar had set up brokers in Tamil Nadu who would trace, identify the innocent poor people for donating their kidneys. He also set up brokers, namely Pradeep Kumar in Bengaluru and Gupta in Haryana who would identify patients in need of kidneys and could afford to pay huge amount for their kidney transplantations.

In each kidney transplantation, he used to take Rs 10 to 15 lakh as commission and lead a lavish life by spending the money on purchasing luxury cars and visiting casinos in Sri Lanka.

Gupta would identify the patients in Delhi, Gujarat and Maharashtra who were in need of kidneys and arranged them for illegal kidney transplantations through Pavan Kumar. He was paid Rs 10 lakh as commission for each kidney transplantation and he had arranged kidneys for around 10 patients of different states.

The CID official said that efforts are in progress to apprehend other absconding accused.

The racket was busted at Alakananda Multi Specialty Hospital, Kothapet, Saroornagar in Ranga Reddy district. Based on a complaint from the Deputy DM & HO, Ranga Reddy, a criminal case was registered under various sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and the Transplantation of Human Organs and Tissues Act, 1994, at the Saroornagar Police Station.

The case was later transferred to the CID for further investigation on April 24.

--IANS

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