A shocking kidney racket comes to light in Visakhapatnam

In a shocking turn of events, a kidney racket has come to light on Thursday in Visakhapatnam city. Taking place at Sraddha Hospital in the city, the scam disclosed a chain of middlemen that extended up to Bengaluru.

Going into the details, a patient, by the name Prabhakar, was admitted to Sraddha Hospital in Visakhapatnam in July last year for a kidney transplant.  A middleman Manjunath, from Bengaluru, came in contact with Pardhasaradhi from Hyderabad, who was in desperate need of money and looked to sell away his kidney. As things turned out, an agreement was reached between Manjunath and Pardhasaradhi and the latter was assured a sum of Rs 12 lakh in return for his kidney. It may be noted that the name of the surgeon who performed the operation is also Prabhakar.

However, after the completion of the surgery, the donor allegedly did not receive the whole sum he was assured of. Complaining that he just received Rs 5 lakh until now, Pardhasaradhi filed a complaint with Visakhapatnam police, thereby leading the way to a major bust. After carrying out an investigation, the police identified middleman Manjunath as A1, patient Prabhakar as A2, surgeon Prabhakar as A3 and another person Venkatesh as A4 in the charge sheet. They further registered cases on the accused under the corresponding sections.

Police Commissioner Mahesh Chandra Laddha, while speaking to media on the kidney racket in Visakhapatnam, said, “D Manjunath, from Bengaluru, already had contacts in Sraddha Hospital in Visakhapatnam. Those accused also morphed the Aadhar Card and showed the donor as the brother of the patient. The donor approached us when he didn’t receive money. We are also involving DMHO (District Medical and Health Officer) in the case for further assistance.”