Finally, doctor couple booked in kidney racket

Nikhil Bhardwaj

Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, August 31

After a month-long probe into the kidney racket, the Jalandhar police have booked National Kidney Hospital doctor Rajesh Aggarwal and his wife Deepa Aggarwal.

The SIT team comprising Alka Meena, ADCP, Headquarters, J Elanchezhian, ADCP, Crime, AS Power, ADCP, and SHO Navdeep today interrogated the doctor couple for around seven hours at Police Division 7 before nominating them in the case.

The couple, however, was not arrested today as the local court recently directed the police that a three-day notice must be served ahead of any action against the accused. So the couple was served the notice today.

The probe that was going on at a slow pace picked up after Nalabh Kishore, DIG, Crime, pitched in. Even the report from the Director Medical and Education Research (DMER), Mohali, had given a fillip to the investigation. It confirmed that the hospital had committed several procedural lapses in the seven kidney transplants conducted at the National Kidney Hospital. Sadhna, a coordinator at the hospital, too had been issuing statements against the couple. She was arrested earlier.

Alka, ADCP, said the couple had been booked under Sections 18, 19, 20 of the Transplantation of Human Organ Act, 1994. “We found several procedural lapses. For instance, they conducted transplants without the signature of competent authority, etc. We sent this report to the DMER, Mohali, to inquire if these lapses amount to the violation of the Act. In the report, it has been confirmed that the doctor conducted seven kidney transplants illegally and committed several procedural lapses,” Alka said.

Alka said apart from the seven cases mentioned, they would also probe other kidney transplants conducted at the hospital.

In today’s interrogation, the doctor’s wife Deepa confessed to have acted as competent authority for kidney transplants. Earlier, the couple told the police that Sadhna, alias Neena Rani, was the only competent authority.

The police are now thinking of sealing the hospital to prevent the doctors from tampering with any records.

Alka also said they would also probe the role of Deepa’s hospital partner Suman Mittal in the racket.