Amritsar, March 10
The Special Investigation Team (SIT) today chargesheeted 11 persons, including Dr P.K. Sareen, transplant surgeon, Dr O.P. Mahajan, suspended Principal of Government Medical College, and Dr Jagdish Gargi, Professor and Head, Forensic Medicine, in the multi-crore kidney scam here.
A press note issued by Mr Kunwar Vijay Partap Singh, SP and member of the SIT, said the persons chargesheeted include Sheikh Samim of Kolkata, Chunni Lal of Faizabad, Pankaj Gupta of Ludhiana, Vickey Bhatia (one of the big middlemen who arranged scores of kidneys of minors) and Gorakh Ram.
The SIT said that both Sheikh Samim and Chunni Lal were responsible for disposing of the bodies of donors. Gorakh Ram, the ambulance driver, used to carry the bodies of donors to the cremation ground at the behest of hospital authorities, including doctors and manager of Kakkar Hospital Hardyal Mehta. He was arrested on March 2. Pankaj Gupta and Vickey Bhatia were the middlemen working for doctors. Vickey Bhatia had surrendered before the SIT on February 20.
Dr P.K. Sareen, prime accused in the scam and transplant surgeon of Kakkar Hospital, has also been chargesheeted. The SIT alleged that Dr Sareen was the main beneficiary of the scam. Raju and Chandan, declared proclaimed offenders, have also been chargesheeted. Both were agents in the kidney trade.
Earlier, the police had chargesheeted 16 persons in November last year, including agent Yogesh Kumar, alias Tinku, who has absconded ever since warrants had been issued against him.
A supplementary chargesheet will be submitted after the arrest of Dr Bhupinder Singh, Dr P.K. Jain, Dr Bhushan Aggarwal, Mr Hardyal Mehta, Mr Kulwinder Singh, computer clerk of Dr Sareen, and Pradeep Saini. They were reportedly inducing the witnesses and trying to hamper the investigations.
Investigations are going on in the cases of donors Bagicha Singh and Sudesh Kumar. The body of Sudesh Kumar was disposed of under mysterious circumstances at the behest of Dr Bhupinder Singh, Dr Sareen and others.
