 "Hiranandani hospital kidney transplant racket: ED to file money laundering case")
Enforcement Directorate (ED) has sought details of the alleged kidney transplant racket at Hiranandani hospital from Mumbai police to examine the 'money trail' in the case.
"A letter has been written to police in this regard seeking details," said an ED official in the know.
The racket came to light last month when the Mumbai police were tipped off that a kidney transplant operation had been scheduled at the privately-run Hiranandani Hospital where donor and recipient were not related.
The enforcement agency is understood to be mulling taking up the case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. "The predicate offence is clearly seen. We are examining the case and other kidney transplant cases as well that were carried out in the hospital in the last two years," said another ED official.
Sources said that ED officials were likely to file an enforcement case information report against all the accused involved on the basis of the case registered by the Mumbai police.
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"We are yet to receive case details from the police. Once we do, we will accordingly decide further course of action," added the official cited above.
In an emailed response, Hiranandani Hospital spokesperson said, "We have not received any information and would not comment based on any assumptions."
So far, police has arrested 14 people in the case, including the CEO of the hospital and four other doctors. A case has been registered on charges of cheating, impersonation, criminal conspiracy and forgery under the Indian Penal Code and the Transplantation of Human Organ Act, 1994, at the Powai police station.
Police suspect that the arrested doctors were also attached with other hospitals in Mumbai and that the same racket is run in other hospitals as well.
"Some doctors of the Hiranandani Hospital might have connived with middlemen to exploit poor people by luring them with money to donate their kidney at cheaper prices," said the official cited above.
Explaining the racket, sources in the police said, "Poor donors were lured at the price of Rs 50,000 to Rs 2 lakhs, whereas, the clients (patients) were charged between Rs 25 lakh and Rs 30 lakh per kidney by the hospital."
Mumbai police is examining all kidney transplants conducted at the hospital for the last one year so that they can build a water-tight case against the accused involved.