Class 12 passout, posed as doctor: Meet ‘mastermind’ of Kanpur’s kidney transplant racket

During preliminary questioning, he told police that he had been involved in the network since 2018 and had earlier worked at a hospital in Meerut before joining the syndicate.

Police said Rohit disclosed details of a Meerut-based team that he would bring to Kanpur to carry out transplant surgeries at various hospitals. The team allegedly included Vaibhav Mudgal, Dr Ali and Afzal, all of whom are wanted in the case. Police teams are currently conducting raids to trace and arrest them.

“During the probe, it emerged that Dr Ali used to perform the surgeries, while the others assisted him,” said the DCP.

Police said Rohit decided where the team would carry out the procedures and which hospital would be used in each instance.

Officials said his mobile phone, which is yet to be recovered, is likely to provide key evidence on the scale of the racket and its broader network. Police are preparing to seek his custody remand for further questioning.

Police said Rohit’s main associate was ambulance operator Shivam Agarwal (32), who is believed to have played a crucial role in the local operations of the racket.

The racket was busted two weeks ago when police had arrested six persons, including five doctors. It came to light after police received inputs about illegal transplant activities, and a joint team of police and health department officials carried out raids at three medical facilities in the Kalyanpur-Rawatpur area on March 29 and 30.

Police suspect the kidneys were procured from donors, usually people in economic distress, for Rs 5-6 lakh and sold to recipients between Rs 60 lakh and Rs 1 crore.

Police said those arrested were Dr Surjeet Singh Ahuja (54) and his wife Dr Preeti Ahuja (50), Dr Rajesh Kumar (44), Dr Ram Prakash (40), Dr Narendra Singh (35), and Shivam. Police said the latter acted as the middleman, bringing potential donors to the doctors. Subsequently, police arrested three more individuals, including two operation theatre technicians, in connection with the case.

During the probe, officers said they found that the hospital run by Ahujas was allegedly being used to carry out kidney transplant procedures. Preliminary evidence suggests that around seven to eight illegal transplants may have been conducted at the facility.

Kanpur Police had written to the Chief Medical Officers (CMOs) of four districts — Meerut, Ghaziabad, Lucknow and Kanpur — seeking verification of hospitals that surfaced during the probe. Police identified nearly a dozen hospitals across these districts that may have been directly or indirectly linked to the network.