Kidney racket was operating out of Bengaluru, not Magadi

Police are now probing the larger nexus suspected to be active in Bengaluru and trying to unearth more illegal renal transplants.

Shashikala, the donor. Photo: Sudhakar Jain.

The ring of touts aiding illegal renal transplants that had come to light recently in Magadi, was based and operating out of Bengaluru and not Magadi or Ramanagaram as was suspected, investigations have now revealed.

Not just that, the ring may have involved other touts and suspected to have aided numerous other illegal renal transplants.

Magadi police on Tuesday detained the tout, Suresh a resident of Bengaluru’s Kamakshipalya, who aided the illegal renal transplant through forged documents.

Shashikala, the donor in the particular case, though hailed from Nagashettyhalli was residing in Peenya until recently, was also approached by the tout in Bengaluru, sources confirmed.

Chandragupta, SP, Ramanagaram district told The Hindu that Suresh may just be one of the touts in the ring and Police is looking at apprehending others who may have been involved in the ring. When quizzed whether the illegal renal transplantation by Shashikala was a one off case, Mr. Chandragupta said that it does not seem so.

Police are now probing the larger nexus suspected to be active in Bengaluru and trying to unearth more illegal renal transplants carried out through this particular network of touts. City police, who registered a case of forgery and cheating against Shashikala, the donor, the kidney recipient’s son Srinivas and his wife Shwetha, are also likely to join the probe to further probe the ring.

Investigation revealed that Suresh charged Srinivas Rs. eight lakh to find a donor for the transplantation. Suresh paid Shashikala, the donor, Rs. three lakh and pocketed Rs. five lakh.

The racket came to light when Magadi police registered a suo motu case on July 8, after the tip-off about Shashikala, a resident of Nagashettyhalli for illegally donating her kidney.

Investigations revealed that documents were forged to show Shashikala as Srinivas’s wife Shwetha for police verification at Ulsoor Gate Police Station. The renal transplant was carried out on June 26 at Vikram Hospital, Mysuru.

Magadi police have arrested Srinivas and his relative Hemanth Kumar, whose interrogation confirmed the role of the tout in the transaction.