Racketeers cheat kidney donors
From Varinder Walia
Tribune News Service

AMRITSAR, Oct 5 — Even though Parliament has enacted an Act to discourage human organ trade, this business is flourishing here with racketeers finding new methods to circumvent the law. Amritsar has become one of the major centres of northern India where human organ trade is prevalent on a large scale with the connivance of health authorities and administration.

The facts revealed by five persons who had sold their kidneys for Rs 1 lakh each has brought to light this illegal activity. The victims are mostly migratory labourers. The middlemen go to public places like railway stations and bus stands to lure the victims with the connivance of the health authorities. The victims are shown as ‘voluntary donors’. The donor and recipient submit an affidavit attested by a magistrate that money is not involved in the ‘voluntary donation’. This is approved by the authorisation committee.

The incident of removal of kidneys of five migratory labourers came to light when the ‘mediators’ did not fulfil their promise of giving Rs 1 lakh each to the ‘donors’. This led to a hue and cry and all five ‘donors’, hailing from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, approached the civil lines police station for registration of a case against three persons under Sections 420 and 120 B of the IPC.

The three accused had also been arrested about two months ago and were released on bail.

The five victims — Amit Kumar, Vijay Kumar, Raj Kumar, Lakhi Ram and Abdul Majid — in their complaint alleged that the accused — Rakesh Kumar, Rajesh Kumar and Rahul Khanna, all residents of Gali Naianwala — had promised to give them Rs 1 lakh each for kidney donations. They alleged that the accused did not turn up for making the payment.

Earlier, a case under similar sections of the Indian Panel Code was registered against seven persons dealing in human organs at the Civil Lines police station on July 27, 1999. The three accused in the earlier case were also named by the five victims in the latest case. The previous FIR had also mentioned that the ‘deal’ was struck on a mobile phone.

Many victims are brought from far-flung places by the middlemen with the promise that they would be given good jobs in Punjab. Then they are kept in a private house. For days together, they are persuaded to donate their kidneys. The victims alleged that sometimes persons were also tortured during captivity if they refused to oblige.

The police and health authorities admit that the human organ trade has been going on for the past more than 10 years.