Labourer rescued from kidney racket

Gang abducted healthy workers, transplanted their kidneys into foreign patients

RAWALPINDI:

A significant development has been made in Rawalpindi's illegal kidney transplantation case as police have recovered a labourer abducted by a criminal ring involved in surgically extracting the kidneys of poor workers who were in good health to transplant them into rich patients from abroad.

The Rawalpindi Police rescued a poor labourer who was kidnapped and arrested two accused. They were also able to gather evidence relating to the illegal kidney transplantation scheme from the abductee. The police have expanded their investigation by including Section 109 of the Pakistan Penal Code in the already registered FIR and three more sections of the Punjab Human Organ Transplant Act.

Police sources said that the statement of the rescued abductee, Arsalan, has also been recorded under Section 164 in the court. The abductee confirmed the existence of the gruesome racket in his statement. Police further revealed that nurses Firdous Shamim and Sohail Khalid, who were involved in the illegal transplantation of human kidneys have been arrested. The police conducted an initial interrogation of both the accused, after which, nurse Firdous Shamim was sent to jail on judicial remand, while the other accused, Sohail's physical remand has been obtained.

Police teams are conducting raids to arrest Haji Shahzad, Dr Farooq, Nawab Khan and Ali Khan, all of whom have been named in the case. Another five unknown accused, who are being called Trace, have also been accused.

Police sources said that the gang used to set its target on extracting healthy kidneys from poor labourers. The police registered a case at the Civil Lines police station after receiving reports of the gang's illegal activities. As more details about the case came to light, the police sought the assistance of the Punjab Human Organ Transplant Authority and included sections 10, 11 and 12 of the Human Organ Transplant Act in the FIR on its recommendation.

Police sources said that the investigation has also proven that the kidneys of the plaintiff in the case, Muhammad Rafiq, and his cousin Muhammad Yasin, were also removed by the same group. All the people affected by this gang belong to Toba Tek Singh, who had come to Rawalpindi to earn a living from hard labour.

In a similar case, the FIA busted another gang of illegal kidney transplanters within the jurisdiction of Tarnol Police Station in Sector G-16 of the federal capital only few days ago.

The law enforcement agency uncovered an illegal kidney transplant centre operating from the basement of a private residence after receiving a call from victims who had been stranded there following forced surgical procedures.

The FIA detained three doctors and several members of staff during a late-night raid. A number of patients were found at the premises. They were being kept in rooms in the basement of the house that was allegedly being used as an unauthorised hospital facility.