Heads start rolling in Amritsar kidney scam

Kunwar,who as under-training Assistant Superintendent of Police in Amritsar,had tried to investigate the scam about four years earlier,but was transferred out in what later appeared to be an attempt to hush up the matter.

There were around 36 accused in the main case. According to Special Public Prosecutor and Deputy District Attorney (legal) R K Salwan,a number of them were declared proclaimed offenders and a few have died. “Over 20 of the accused continue to face trial in the main case. The case where sentences were announced on Friday is an offshoot of the main case. There is another case registered in 2003,which is also an offshoot of the main case,where the accused have been booked on murder charges,” Salwan said.

The accused in the main case include Dr P K Sareen,the main surgeon for kidney transplantations at Kakkar hospital in Amritsar; Dr P K Jain,also a surgeon (while Dr Jain allegedly removed the kidneys of ‘donors’,Dr Sareen allegedly transplanted them in the recipients); Dr Bhushan Aggarwal,a government doctor who was posted at Ramdass,and Dr Bhupinder Singh. A few others have been accused of fudging patient records.

The nexus was allegedly run by the mighty and influential with the connivance and backing of the police. Among the accused was also Gurdial Ram,personal security officer (PSO) of a the then Inspector General,Salwan said. Ram later died. “The middlemen in the scam would look for vulnerable persons at public places. They would identify those from the economically weaker sections of society and in need of money. Such persons were lured to donate their kidneys for money. At time,they were abducted and intimidated and even put under a kind of confinement in their local areas till the suitable time for kidney transplant,” Salwan said. “Depending upon the profile of recipient,an amount ranging from Rs 5 lakh to Rs 18 lakh was charged,” he added.

Of the nearly 2,400 kidney transplant procedures cleared by the authorisation committee in the state in about five years till the scam hit the headlines in 2002,more than 1,900 transplants were found to have been carried out at Kakkar hospital in Amritsar.

The murder trial

The other offshoot case of the Amritsar Kidney Scam involvs murder charges against Dr Bhupinder Singh,Dr Bhushan Aggarwal,Dr P K Sareen,Dr P K Jain and Hardyal Mehta,the manager at Kakkar hospital,who is alleged to have played a key role in fudging the records and documents. “The case was registered in 2003 after a donor,Sudesh Kumar,died. Dr Bhupinder Singh and Dr Bhushan Aggarwal got his cremation done without informing police and without getting his post-mortem done,” Deputy District Attorney R K Salwan said.

The Bagicha Singh story

In February 2002,17-year-old Bagicha Singh picked a fight at home and left his native village – Sidhwan Bet near Jagraon in Ludhiana district; his life would change forever. Bagicha reached the Golden Temple and came in touch with Baljit Singh in June that year. Baljit Singh,also a minor,allegedly told the 17-year-old that he would help him learn driving at uncle’s house. Baljit took Bagicha to Haryana policeman Suresh Kumar Sharma,where he was promised Rs 40,000 for a kidney. Bagicha refused but was allegedly intimidated and his signatures were taken on blank paper. Deputy District Attorney (legal) R K Salwan said Bagicha was forced to sign as Raju,son of Ajit Kumar,and the blank papers were allegedly used for different purposes,including for Bagicha’s consent before the authorisation committee. The transplant surgery was performed at New Ruby Hospital in Jalandhar by doctors Dr Arjinder Singh,Dr SPS Grover and Dr H S Bhutani after Authorization Committee Chairman and then Amritsar Government Medical College Principal Dr O P Mahajan and then Professor and Authorization Committee member Jagdish Gargi cleared the case. Bagicha Singh was then dropped at his native place and was allegedly threatened not to reveal anything. It was after his family learnt of the kidney scam case that they dared to approach the police. A case was finally registered,Bagicha,however,died in a road accident under mysterious circumstances. The five doctors were awarded five years in jail on Friday; the organ recipient,Suresh Kumar Sharma,was given 8 years.