With the arrest of four persons, police today claimed to have busted a kidney racket operating in the city.
"Acting on a tip-off, police raided the parking lot of a hotel here and arrested four persons yesterday who are allegedly involved in the trade of human organs," SHO Division Number 7 Navdip Singh said.
The accused have been identified as Junaid Khan, Kuldip Kumar, Sabur Ahmed Khan and Vardan Chandra Rao, the SHO said adding, Junaid was the kingpin of the racket.
Junaid and Kuldip are residents of Haryana, while Khan and Rao are residents of Lucknow.
The four have been booked under various sections of the IPC and Transplantation of Human Organs Acts. They have been taken into police remand after being presented before a Magistrate, he said.
Two of those arrested have surgery marks on their stomach, raising suspicion of both have already sold one of their kidneys, Singh further said.
They will be sent for medical examination once they are interrogated, the SHO said.
A number of fake identity cards have been recovered from them, Singh said, adding these might have been for those who want to sell their kidneys.
A senior police official said that they are trying to ascertain the involvement of city hospitals and doctors in the racket and added that strict action will be taken against those involved.
