Nearly ten days after the case came to the fore, Twin City Commissioner of Police Dr RP Sharma confirmed on Tuesday that Padmini Nayak, a poor woman of Cuttack city, had to part with one of her kidneys in exchange of money and the organ theft rackets which are rather active in Cuttack.
Addressing reporters here, Sharma disclosed that Sharmistha Jena, a woman member of the racket, has been arrested and the city police are on the lookout of two more persons in this connection.
“Based on the recorded statements of the so-called donor and her husband, it has been established that money has been paid to the family in exchange of the organ,” Sharma said, confirming that the removal of the kidney of the woman in a private hospital in Bhubaneswar was not for donation.
Sharma further said that on verification of the documents submitted by the family for the purpose of organ donation, it was prima-facie found that many of them were forged and fake. “The residential and income certificates submitted by the woman’s husband are concocted,” the police commissioner said, corroborating the fact that a racket was behind all this unethical practice.
It may be mentioned that Padmini’s husband, a rickshaw-puller, had submitted an income certificate indicating that he, as a businessman, has an annual income of Rs 2.60 lakh. The income certificate was obtained from the office of the Cuttack tehsildar.