By IANS,
New Delhi : The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Tuesday filed in a special court in Ambala, Haryana, its chargesheet against Amit Kumar, the alleged kingpin of a multi-billion rupee kidney racket, and eight other accused in the case.
“During investigations, evidence has been collected to establish the role played by the kingpin (Amit Kumar) in the racket of illegal kidney transplantations,” a CBI statement said here.
The premier investigation agency filed the chargesheet against the nine people in the court of Special Judicial Magistrate for CBI cases, Ambala. The chargesheet was filed under various sections of the Indian Penal Code and Transplantation of Human Organs Act (TOHO), 1994.
During investigations, the CBI found that Amit alias Santosh Kumar Raut has been booked in eight criminal cases in Mumbai, Jaipur, Guntur and Delhi for conducting illegal kidney transplantations since 1994.
“Though he only has a degree in ayurvedic medicines, he has been conducting kidney transplant surgeries in the clandestine hospital, owned and established by him at Sector-23 in Gurgaon,” the CBI said.
The CBI contended that Amit, 43, was actively assisted by his brother, Jeewan Kumar, who possesses a degree in homeopathic medicine.
The ring that served clients from Britain, the US, Greece, Lebanon, Canada, Saudi Arabia and the UAE among other countries was busted by the police forces of Haryana and Uttar Pradesh Jan 24 in Gurgaon, the IT hub bordering New Delhi.
Using persuasion, trickery and threats, Amit and his aides allegedly forced poor patients and labourers to part with one of their kidneys for a pittance. The organs were then sold off to wealthy clients from India and abroad at huge profits.
Amit, who allegedly carried out 600 kidney transplants with help from fellow doctors, was nabbed after a fortnight’s hunt in Nepal Feb 10 and deported to India. He is at present in CBI custody.
Upendra Kumar, a doctor arrested from Faridabad in Haryana Jan 24, was found to be the conduit in supplying victims for kidney removal. They were lured to Gurgaon on the pretext of employment by two middlemen – Jagdish and Gyasuddin – who were working as agents for the doctor, the agency said.
The CBI has also filed chargesheet against Amit Kumar’s aides, including two anaesthetists K.K. Aggarwal and Saraj Kovid, technician Manoj and nurse Linda.
Besides statements of victims and kidney recipients, the CBI was relying on crucial evidence collected from the computers seized from the hospital and residential premises of Amit, e-mail accounts as well as mobile phones of the accused.
While some recipients reached the kidney racket kingpin through friendly references, some were actively solicited by the accused, the CBI said.
The CBI assembled a team of expert doctors from the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Science, Rohtak (Haryana) and from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Delhi, to inspect the hospital premises. The experts established that the equipment and medicines recovered were exclusively meant for kidney transplantation operations.
“Investigation has established that the hospital at Gurgaon was being run illegally and the surgeries were being conducted by the kidney kingpin who holds a degree of BAMS and was thus not qualified to conduct kidney transplants or surgeries as required under the provisions of TOHO Act,” the CBI said.
As per norms, a degree in Master of Surgery and three years of mandatory experience is required for conducting surgery.
The CBI also told the court that necessary action has been taken to freeze about 20 bank accounts in the name of the accused.