M A I N   N E W S

CBI arrests kidney scam kingpin’s brother

New Delhi, February 17
The Central Bureau of Investigation today arrested Dr Jeevan Rawat, the brother of the alleged kidney transplant racket kingpin Dr Amit Kumar.

While mastermind Dr Amit was apprehended from Nepal and one of his associates Dr Saraj surrendered before a city court last week, Dr Jeevan was the only one at large.

CBI sources told the UNI that Jeevan has been kept at the agency headquarters. He would be produced before the court tomorrow for custody, the sources added.

The arrest follows a long trail by the investigating agency. The Interpol had also issued a red-corner notice against jeevan. Already declared an international offender, Jeevan had been absconding ever since the police busted their illegal kidney trade on the outskirts of Delhi.

This arrest will have a bearing on the case Dr Amit Kumar, who was arrested from a jungle resort in Chitwan district of Nepal on February 8. One of his associates, Dr Saraj Kumar Kovind surrendered before a city court last week.

The Gurgaon cops had also arrested Jeevan’s wife, Pooja Singhal on Wednesday last. She is facing charges of criminal conspiracy in view of her confession of being actively involved in the kidney-transplant business, collecting payments from clients and giving post-operative care to patients. The racket of Dr Amit, who is believed to have conducted over 500 illegal operations in a decade came to light on January 24 when one of the labourers from Moradabad escaped from the grip of the gang and informed the police about the activities of the doctors.

Most of the victims whose kidneys had been removed belonged to poor families in western Uttar Pradesh and the racket is alleged to have international links as well. — UNI

Online organ trade market is booming

The kidney racket, allegedly run by Dr Amit Kumar might have created a sensation across the country but a market of organ trade is thriving online much to the joy of potential donors and buyers.

Social networking sites like Orkut and Facebook are openly being used as a source for procuring kidneys in contravention to the established laws. A number of communities on these sites are dedicated to the people who are interested in selling and buying kidneys.

The popularity of such specialised communities can be gauged from the huge number of members that these communities have attracted.

While Orkut has above 700 members for the 35-odd kidney transplant- related communities, Facebook has thousands of members worldwide, many of whom are Indians too.

Orkut said it had reviewed the content as per its policies and those in violation had been effectively removed. “The communities and profiles, indulging in commercial kidney donation, were reviewed as per our policies and those in violation have been effectively removed,” Orkut said in a statement released to PTI.

It is not only the donors who are scouting the net but also prospective recipients and their relatives. Almost every message on these communities have contact details like e-mail addresses to even cell phone numbers. — PTI