Assam police arrests mother-son duo in alleged illegal kidney trade racket

GUWAHATI:

Assam Police arrested three persons, including a mother-son duo in connection to an alleged illegal kidney trade racket in Morigaon district.

Reportedly, the arrested woman and her accomplices were running an illegal kidney trade at Dakshin Dharamtul village in Central Assam’s Morigaon district, luring poor villagers with a promise of paying Rs 4-5 lakh if they donated their kidneys to some sick people and organisations.

The woman agent has been identified as Lilimai Bodo, a resident of Guwahati. The police have arrested Bodo, her son, and their accomplice, Ramen Medhi.

Based on a written complaint by a person whose kidney was allegedly extracted last month but only Rs 50,000 was paid to him, though he was promised a much larger amount, police arrested the three accused.

Morigaon district Superintendent of Police (SP) Aparna Natarajan said, "A case has been registered at Jagiroad police station under human trafficking sections. The woman is currently under police custody. Our investigation is on. We are trying to trace the local agents of the racket." 

"We have shared some details with the state authorisation committee for organ transplantation which is the competent authority to approve any kind of organ transplantation," she added.

People in Dakshin Dharamtul village are mostly farmers and daily wage labourers. Most of them fall under the below poverty line.

The SP informed that as many as six villagers have already fallen into the trap and sold their kidneys to the purported Kolkata-based organisation and the figure could further go up.

(With inputs from agencies)

(Edited by Aparmita Das)

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