Kanpur: An inter-state kidney racket was busted in Kanpur on Sunday. Probe into the global links in the racket gathered pace as the police initiated a search for Dr Ketan Kaushik. Dr Ketan is a Delhi-based private practitioner and handled the gang’s international clients. The multi-crore illegal organ trade had been flourishing for six years across three states.

Dr Ketan’s name came to light during interrogation of six gang members, including donors, who worked as agents. Two of the arrested gang members claimed that they had met the doctor in Delhi several times to discuss kidney transplants after trapping poor donors. SSP, Kanpur, Anand Deo stated that the doctor played a vital role in making tourist visas of donors, who would be sent to the clients in Sri Lanka and Turkey.

Gaurav Mishra, an arrested agent, told police that Dr Ketan’s agents were deployed at hospitals and religious shrines to hunt for people who needed organs or those willing to play donor. A senior police officer mentioned that the doctor’s men were associated with technicians and paramedics of the hospital’s nephrology department who would notify them about patients who needed a kidney.

Gaurav told police that Dr Ketan charged over Rs 1.25 crore from a recipient for an offshore kidney transplant. If the recipient agreed to travel to India, he was charged Rs 75 lakh. In overseas surgeries, Dr Ketan had to send the donor to the country where the recipient was based. If an overseas recipient was willing to undergo surgery in India, Dr Ketan coordinated between the client and donor and arranged for surgeons, for an extra fee.

Gaurav claimed that he knew about at least two donors who were sent to Sri Lanka and Turkey by Dr Ketan on a tourist visa and returned after their kidneys were removed. SSP Deo personally supervised the operation against the gang and stated that Gaurav’s statements on Dr Ketan were corroborated by a donor, Vardan Chandra, of Lucknow.

The offshore surgeries were supervised by Dr Ketan, while T Raj Kumar Rao, another arrested gang member, who was arrested in connection with the Apollo kidney racket in 2016 and currently on bail, took care of the India operations.

Rao came in contact with one Deepak Kar Kaka and donated his kidney for Rs 1.75 lakh before joining the gang. After being released on bail, he started heading the gang and specialized in motivating prospective donors.

SHO Naubasta, Samar Bahadur Yadav, mentioned that Rao held classes of prospective donors at a rented accommodation in Delhi to clear away the concerns regarding complications after surgery. He would give his own example as a donor who led a healthy life. Rao, along with Dr Ketan Kaushik, would give rigorous training to donors. He would train donors to eliminate any suspicion and prepare them to say that they were voluntarily donating kidneys out of affection for the recipient, who could be a relative.

Shailesh Saxena, one among the six arrested, would fabricate relationship certificates for the donors. He would also prepare false voter identification and Aadhaar cards to corroborate deceptive relationships between recipients and donors.

Following the surgery and five-day recovery period, the donors would be sent away in general class train compartments to return home with a meager pay of Rs 2-3 lakh.