A city suburban court on Thursday granted conditional bail to five doctors, including the Chief Executive officer (CEO), of lH Hiranandani Hospital, who were arrested last week in connection with the alleged kidney transplant scam.
The five doctors of lH Hiranandan Hospital — CEO Dr. Sujit Chatterjee, Medical Director Dr. Anurag Naik, Dr. Mukesh Shete, Dr. Mukesh Shah and Dr. Prakash Shetty – had moved the suburban Andheri Magistrate’s court for bail, five days after a city court remanded them in judicial custody.
The suburban court granted bail to the five doctors against a cash surety of `30,000 each. In addition, the court also imposed conditions that they would report to the Powai police station every Monday till September 26 and that would not leave the country without seeking permission from the court.
Earlier, on August 13, the city suburban had remanded the five doctors in judicial custody till August 26, after the Powai Police told the court that their investigations were complete and that the accused doctors were no longer required for custodial interrogation.
The five doctors of the Hiranandani Hospital had been arrested by the Powai Police under the Transplantation of Human Organs Act (THOA) on the night of August 9.
The five arrested doctors are among the 14 persons booked by the Powai Police in connection with the Kidney transplant scam, which came to light on July 14.
The scam came to light on July 14, when the Powai Police had stopped a kidney transplant at the Hiranandani hospital after receiving a tip-off that the donor was impersonating as the recipient's wife by forging documents. The investigations revealed that Brijkishore Jaiswal, a resident of Surat, was to receive a kidney from Shobha Thakur, showing Thakur as his wife, Rekha Devi. But Thakur, also hailing from Gujarat, was to sell her kidney in exchange for money.
Following the expose, the Maharashtra Government appointed an expert committee to probe the matter in detail. Subsequently, the hospital's transplant coordinator Nilesh Kamble, the person responsible for the paper work, was arrested and a cash of `8 lakh was seized from his home.
The investigations by the police have revealed that scam master-mind Bisen alias Sandeep used to lure poor people from Gujarat to sell their kidneys. Donor Thakur was allegedly promised `3 lakh for selling her organ.
The role of Hospital’s CEO, Dr Sujit Chatterjee, Medical Director Dr. Anurag Naik and three other doctors came to light during the course of the inquiry conducted by a team of experts appointed by the State Director of Health Services.
Among other things, the inquiry committee has indicted two arrested doctors Dr. Mukesh Shete and Dr. Mukesh Shah for having been negligent in performing their duties. One of the accused in the case told the committee that Dr Shete was present when he was discussing the exchange of money with mastermind Bisen.
On his part, whistle-blower Suresh Gupta, a social activist, has demanded a CBI probe into the incident, saying that the racket has wide ramifications. " The racket is spread to other states as well," he said..