Initially refusing to admit that a kidney theft racket was thriving in Cuttack city, the Commissionerate Police on Wednesday said the role of an organised group of unethical people cannot be ruled out in the removal of a kidney from a Cuttack woman at a Bhubaneswar hospital last week.
The police turnaround came when it was revealed that the documents prepared for the voluntary donation of kidney were concocted and imaginary.
While it has been established beyond doubt that the woman’s husband Bhabagrahi Nayak was a rickshaw puller and the family was leading a life of penury, the income certificate of Bhabagrahi, submitted as part of a requisite for kidney donation, shows that he is a businessman and his annual income is Rs 2, 60,000.
The income certificate of Bhabagrahi was issued by the Cuttack Sadar tehsildar in February this year, which indicates that the kidney theft racket was behind this family for almost three months now.
“Although, the procedure and other documents required for voluntary kidney donation appear to be in order, some incriminating documents like the income certificate of the donor’s husband indicate that the role of a racket in it cannot be ruled out”, said Police Commissioner RP Sharma on Wednesday.
Sharma, himself an MBBS degree holder, however, stopped short of committing on the day as to whether an organ theft racket was in operation in Cuttack city or not. “I cannot say anything about it now as investigations are still going on”, Sharma said, adding that two persons are now being quizzed in this connection under detention while two others are absconding.
But the police attempt to shield the unscrupulous persons behind this unethical practice was punctured earlier when Bhabagrahi had disclosed that he had already received Rs 50,000 from a middleman as part of a Rs 3 lakh deal in exchange of his wife’s kidney.