According to the Ernakulam police officials, a doctor based in Hyderabad was the only contact person for an international organ trafficking ring headquartered in Iran. The man was apprehended by a team of policemen from Ernakulam working hand-in-hand with the local police at Khairatabad.
While explaining how it all happened to the Hindu Newspaper, Vaibhav Saxena, SP of Ernakulam Police stated that Bellamkonda Ram Prasad aka Prathapan aged 41 is bigwig among doctors and renowned businessman with wide networking across India. “He would be reached out on secure lines from one Madhu, a native of Kochi, in Iran for kidney donors. Donors who were mostly from Andhra Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh and Delhi could get between ₹8-10 lakh. Mostly wealthy clients would pay anywhere between ₹50 lakh and ₹1 crore as recipients of these organs. The middlemen (who are stationed in Iran) reportedly make huge sums,” he explained.
Once Prasad arranges a donor, he informs the organisers in Iran. Who fly them out of the country and allot them a place in a hotel days before the surgery and send them back with cash. “Prasad was such an important figure who helped find Indian donors after taking their client’s details,” added the official. He would introduce himself as ‘Dr. Ram Prasad’ to his victims and convince them to donate their kidneys.
Sabith Nasar from Thrissur Kerala whose arrest exposed this racket handled or facilitated donors in Iran. Apart from Sabith and Ram Prasad another person Sajith Shyam has also been arrested by Kerala police for alleged link to finance side of this racket.
All three accused have been booked under different sections of IPC along Transplantation of Human Organs Act 1994 provisions. Police is making efforts to trace and arrest Madhu, who is reportedly in Iran.