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Since the beginning of the year, the Delhi Police say they had been tracking an eight-member gang running an illegal kidney transplant racket that spanned five states — Delhi, Haryana, Punjab, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh — for six years. With some gang members working from hospitals, police say, they had the perfect ruse to identify possible donors as well as recipients and bring them together, albeit illicitly.
When the Inter-State Cell of the Crime Branch, including investigating officer Inspector Pawan, finally busted the racket in June, police say they were surprised to find the mastermind was no criminal with a track record, but an MBA graduate, who briefly studied law, and had respectable jobs as a kidney transplant coordinator at many hospitals.
This man, Sandeep Arya, 39, allegedly facilitated 34 illegal kidney transplants amounting to Rs 10 crore, say police.
It was the wife of a ‘client’ in line to receive a kidney transplant from Arya, who lodged a complaint against him and co-accused Vijay Kumar Kashyap aka Sumit, that gave police their major breakthrough in the case, they say.
The complainant accused Arya and Kashyap of allegedly duping her husband of Rs 35 lakh because they had not provided him a transplant in time, leading to his death on December 24, 2023. In the complaint, it was claimed that Arya asked her husband to stop his dialysis treatment and shift to Primus Super Specialty Hospital in Chanakyapuri as he had a “setting” there.
“We had a tip-off about the racket in Delhi-NCR. But once this complaint was received, we zeroed in on Arya and Kashyap,” an officer says.
This complaint started a chain of arrests, the officer says, and “finally culminated in uncovering one of India’s largest ever illegal kidney transplant rackets”.
Kashyap was the first to be arrested on June 26 from his apartment in Paras Tiera Society, Noida Sector 137. Subsequently, Arya and his brother-in-law Devender Jha, from Uttarakhand, were arrested on June 28 from The O Hotel, Bardez, in Goa, according to police.
By July 17, the rest were nabbed, police say. Seven donors and patients were bound down (an obligation to appear in court on a certain date, but not formal arrest or detention), they say.
“Arya charged around Rs 35-40 lakh per transplant, which included all costs — from the organ to accommodation for donors and preparing forged documents. The group saved up to Rs 7 lakh per operation and distributed it among themselves,” says an officer part of the probe.
Sources say a 4,000-page chargesheet has been filed in court; cognisance is yet to be taken.
The hotel in Goa where Arya was picked up was a five-star one, say police. “Because of his extravagant lifestyle, he was in debt. He had expensive tastes… he would stay in big hotels… and spend lavishly,” a Delhi Police officer privy to the investigation says. “We seized a Mercedes car from him. A beneficiary had given it to him as payment for organising an illegal transplant.”
Arya’s expensive tastes, however, were a stark contrast to his humble beginnings.
Born in Uttarakhand’s Rampur, he studied at Motilal Nehru School of Sports in Rai, Sonipat. “His father worked in the canteen as a helper… that’s how Arya managed to get admission at the school, considered among the top 10 boarding schools in India,” a police officer says.
“His mother died when he was very young. As an only child, he spent his entire childhood in the school’s hostel,” the officer says. “He used to be a gymnast in his school days.”
Arya’s brother-in-law, who didn’t want to be named, says he was ambitious from the get-go. “He was sharp in studies. Even in school, he used to be a leader,” he recalls. “He always knew how to bring everyone together.”
According to a police officer, Arya did his MBA in Public Health from Dibrugarh University in 2005. Subsequently, he joined a three-year LLB course at a Noida-based private college but left the course with two more semesters to go. “From 2010 to 2018, Arya tried studying for government job exams like SSC and did other private jobs,” the officer says.
He is married to Pooja Arya and has a six-year-old son. They lived in Patel Nagar for some time.
A friend of Arya, who was his classmate during his LLB days, offers a different take on his criminal activities: “He (Arya) forged documents, committed financial fraud, and broke the law repeatedly, but he doesn’t see his activities as unlawful. He sees his work as a service to people who are unable to get medical help because of the cumbersome process of kidney transplants in the country. He thinks he is only bringing willing parties — donors and receivers — together.”
The first case against him, police say, was registered at Shalimar Bagh police station in 2018. “A relative filed a complaint of credit card fraud against him. It was a minor issue; the complainant claimed Arya used his card for a purchase but didn’t return the money. It was resolved amicably,” a police officer says.
Later that year, Arya got a job at a Jaipur-based private hospital where he learnt the basics of kidney donation and transplant procedures, the officer says.
From there, Arya went to Vishesh Jupiter Hospital, Indore — this time as a transplant coordinator. “It was during his stint in Indore that Arya set up this illegal kidney transplant racket,” says the officer.
The hospital’s current transplant coordinator, on condition of anonymity, says, “He (Arya) worked here before my predecessor. So I don’t have any information regarding his work.”
Despite requests, hospital authorities didn’t respond.
According to police, Arya first zeroed in on patients desperate for a transplant at these hospitals. “He would approach them and get them on board,” a police officer says. Jha used to receive payments on his behalf from beneficiaries, an officer says.
“Donors were arranged through social media… they usually came from a poor financial background and were offered Rs 5-6 lakh for each kidney. Arya also used to travel to labs to contact donors and recipients. He would arrange the requisite documentation and choose the hospital (for transplant) through his contacts,” the officer adds.
“He only contacted his associates and clients through WhatsApp and kept changing numbers to ensure secrecy. He also gave new numbers to his associates to create different WhatsApp groups to add donors and recipients,” he says.
Documents show Arya was active on WhatsApp groups like ‘Sell your kidney for money’, ‘Kidney Donor Needed’, ‘Kidney Donor Awareness’.
According to police, “documents were forged to establish close relations between donors and receivers to show adherence to the Transplantation of Human Organs and Tissues (THOT) Act, 1994. “The residence of donors and receivers was sometimes shown in different states, so the procedure could be conducted across multiple hospitals to avoid being traced. The accused used their positions as transplant coordinators and forged documents to get past the Transplant Authorisation Committees of different hospitals. They picked someone who looked like a relative of a recipient and used the relative’s ID to create a fake one for the donor,” says an officer.
According to police, Arya’s next gig was at Sarvodaya Hospital in Faridabad where he arranged two transplants within six months for patients Ashok Mittal in October 2018 and Farzana in March 2019.
When contacted, Sarvodaya Hospital authorities refute that Arya had any relationship with them. “Mr Sandeep Arya was not our employee. We follow government protocol during kidney transplant,” says the hospital’s branding executive Naveen Sharma.
Police say Arya subsequently moved to Metro Hospital in Faridabad in June 2019, where he arranged for two more kidney transplant procedures. This hospital too denies any knowledge about Arya’s activities. “Our records don’t show any signs of Mr Arya or his associates working here. We’ve had only one transplant coordinator for years and all rules and regulations have been followed,” says Rajesh Vashisht, General Manager, Metro Hospital.
Records show Arya was even at Fortis Hospital, Vasant Kunj, in 2021 as a coordinator. Here too, he facilitated three transplants of clients Jilay Singh and Parveen Kumar in September 2021 and Suhana Kumari in October 2021, say police.
In response to The Indian Express’s questions, Fortis Vasant Kunj’s representative says they are cooperating with authorities regarding Arya. “We’ve been made aware through media reports regarding the arrest of Sandeep Arya, a former transplant coordinator, who worked briefly at Fortis Hospital Vasant Kunj in 2021. We categorically state Fortis Hospital Vasant Kunj maintains strict adherence to the TOHO (Transplantation of Human Organs) Act and follows regulatory protocol during the organ transplantation process. Fortis Hospital… has provided all necessary documents and information to aid the probe,” says PR and Communications representative at Fortis Healthcare Ajey Maharaj.
The last hospital where Arya worked as a coordinator was Max Hospital in Gurgaon. He left the job in April 2024, say police.
According to a police officer, Arya and Kashyap allegedly facilitated three transplants at Max — two in March 2024 of Lakhwinder Singh and Ankita Verma and another in May 2024 of Abhishek Kapoor. A doctor, Amit Goyal, the officer says, was allegedly involved in these procedures.
“As per our records, Mr Sandeep Arya worked briefly at Max Hospital, Gurgaon, as a Coordinator-Organ Transplant from October 16, 2023, to April 8, 2024. The hospital is unaware and unrelated to any alleged criminal acts of Sandeep Arya that might have been committed by him,” spokesperson of Max Hospital, Gurgaon, says.
On Dr Goyal’s alleged involvement, the spokesperson says, “We are not aware of any allegations against Dr Goyal. We are fully cooperating with police in their investigations.”
Police say as of now, it hasn’t been proven hospitals or doctors involved in the procedures knew the kidneys were acquired illegally. “We’re still probing the roles of other doctors in the procedure. Role of Transplant Authorisation Committees and its members is being looked at,” an officer says.
While working as a transplant coordinator and arranging transplants across Gurgaon, Delhi, Faridabad and Panchkula, police say, Arya continued to add to his clientele — both donors and recipients — and recruit people for his team. “He kept extending the reach of his racket. Soon, he started facilitating kidney transplants in Gujarat, Punjab and Madhya Pradesh simultaneously,” an officer says. “He is a master communicator. Sophisticated and calm, he convinced those who got in touch with him it was in their interest to join his team.”
Of the eight people arrested, Sumit, Cheekha Prashanth, and Mohammad Hanif had been Arya’s donors, the officer adds. “Another accused, Tej Prakash, who arranged donors and customers, had received a transplant for his wife through Arya from a donor in Mohali,” the officer says.
A case against Cheeka and Hanif is also registered at Punjab’s Dera Bassi police station for organising an illegal kidney transplant at Indus Hospital in Mohali. “Both were operating in Dera Bassi under aliases Anmol and Sameer respectively,” the officer says.
When contacted for comment, no response was received from Indus Hospitals.
According to another officer, since Arya quit Max, Cheeka and another accused Puneet Kumar worked as coordinators to get clients. “While Cheeka was at Primus Super Speciality Hospital in Chanakyapuri, Delhi, Kumar was at a private hospital in Agra,” the police officer says.
When contacted, the Medical Director of Primus Super Specialty Hospital says they are fully cooperating in the probe: “Yes, he (Cheeka) was working with us. The hospital wasn’t aware of his illegal activities at that time. Our hospital adheres to the highest ethical standards, complying with all government regulations and National Organ & Tissue Transplant Organisation (NOTTO) guidelines for renal transplants…”
Almost three months after his arrest, Arya has not yet applied for bail. His lawyer Shubham Gawande tells The Indian Express, “In a similar case involving an Apollo hospital doctor and a transplant coordinator, bail was granted to both. The facts of both cases are similar. All transplants were cleared by the Authorisation Committees. Rules under the TOHO Act were followed. So, we expect the court to give a decision considering these facts.”
In the racket referred to by Arya’s lawyer, Dr Vijaya Rajkumari, working on a fee-for-service basis with Indraprastha Apollo Hospital, transplant coordinator Mohammad Rasel, and five others were arrested in July for allegedly carrying out illegal kidney transplants of Bangla-deshi citizens. According to Patiala House court records, Dr Rajkumari got bail on August 23 and Rasel on September 19. In Rasel’s bail order, the court said as all transplants were conducted following TOHO Act rules, and approved by the Transplant Authorisation Committee, he couldn’t be kept in custody just on the allegation of forging documents.
Police sources say Arya has been “very careful” with his statements and moves, both during questioning and in the courtroom, and “is surprisingly not in a hurry to get out”.
During the hearing on September 5, Arya’s athletic frame — he is 5 foot 6 inches tall — exuded confidence. Wearing a t-shirt, black joggers and sports shoes, he didn’t look nervous like his other accomplices. Smiling and whispering to Jha, he looked on as his lawyers argued his case.
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