Fri Jan 24 23:43:40 IST 2025: ## Hyderabad Police Bust Major Kidney Racket, Chennai Doctor Key Suspect
**Hyderabad, January 25, 2025** – Rachakonda police have uncovered a major kidney transplant racket operating in Hyderabad since 2023, arresting two individuals and identifying a Chennai-based doctor as the prime suspect. The operation involved two gangs of mediators based in Chennai and Visakhapatnam, who facilitated at least 30 illegal kidney transplants, including 10 at Alaknanda Hospital in Hyderabad.
Investigators discovered that the Chennai doctor was flown in for the surgeries, employing deceptive tactics to avoid identification, including using auto-rickshaws to reach the hospital. The mediators targeted impoverished individuals, offering them ₹4-5 lakh to sell their kidneys. Receivers paid significantly more; in one instance, ₹55 lakh and ₹40 lakh were paid by two separate recipients. The remaining funds were distributed among the mediators, the doctor, and Avinash Shetty, a doctor at Alaknanda Hospital.
The police are currently tracing the doctor and other gang members and investigating similar illegal transplants performed at two other Hyderabad hospitals. The arrested individuals, a receptionist and a hospital doctor, have been remanded in judicial custody. Police believe the investigation will reveal the identities of all donors and recipients involved in the racket.
First Piper 