Interstate kidney racket ‘Kingpin’ reveals: 20 illegal surgeries in 18 months in Apollo

After Rao reached Delhi Wednesday night, he was questioned by senior police officials, including Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (south-east) Rajiv Ranjan Singh.

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“Rao revealed that he had started running the racket in Delhi in 2015, when he met several nephrologists and their office staff at Apollo Hospital, after posing as a medical representative,” said police sources.

Though Rao has claimed that at least 20 illegal kidney transplant surgeries had taken place in Apollo Hospital, sources said they had only been informed about the five cases, which were the basis for the initial FIRs. “Police have collected information only about these five cases. We have not been informed of any other case,” said a source at Apollo Hospital.

Rao told police that in 2015, he had met alleged middleman Satya Prakash. who informed him that the maximum number of organ transplant surgeries took place in Apollo Hospital, said sources.

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“When Rao first visited Apollo Hospital, he pretended to be a medical representative. Though he met senior nephrologists under some pretext, his main aim was to establish a connection with the personal assistants of these doctors,” said a police source.

Rao told police he first managed to lure Shailash Saxena, the PA of a senior nephrologist who has been arrested, and used him to reach out to the PAs of other doctors, said sources.

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“They started passing on information about those waiting for a kidney or some other organ to Rao, who used his accomplices in other states to look for donors, who needed money,” said a source.