The multi-billion

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Gurgaon kidney scandal came to light in January 2008 when police arrested several people for running a

kidney transplant Kidney transplant or renal transplant is the organ transplant of a kidney into a patient with end-stage kidney disease (ESRD). Kidney transplant is typically classified as deceased-donor (formerly known as cadaveric) or living-donor transplantat ...

racket in

Gurgaon Gurgaon (), officially named Gurugram (), is a satellite city of Delhi and administrative headquarters of Gurgaon district, located in the northern Indian state of Haryana. It is situated near the Delhi–Haryana border, about southwest ...

, an industrial township near

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. Kidneys of most of the victims, who were the poor hailing from the nearby western

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh ( ; UP) is a States and union territories of India, state in North India, northern India. With over 241 million inhabitants, it is the List of states and union territories of India by population, most populated state in In ...

, were transplanted into clients from the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Saudi Arabia and Greece. The police raid was prompted by complaints by the locals from

Moradabad Moradabad () is an industrial city, commissionerate, and municipal corporation in Moradabad district of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is situated on the banks of the Ramganga river, at a distance of from the national capital, New Del ...

about illegal kidney sales. The man accused of the scandal, Amit Kumar, was arrested in

Nepal Nepal, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mainly situated in the Himalayas, but also includes parts of the Indo-Gangetic Plain. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China Ch ...

on 7 February 2008 and denied any hand in criminal activity.

Chronology of events

The police raid

On 24 January 2008, police teams from Haryana and Uttar Pradesh raided a residential building and a guest house owned by Amit Kumar. According to the Gurgaon police, the scandal at a local clinic had been going on for six to seven years. The donors were lured with offerings of about Rs. 30,000 for kidney 'donation'. First, they were lured to the clinic on the pretext of job opportunities. They were instead asked for donating their kidneys for a fee and all those who resisted this were drugged against their will and subsequently operated upon. The

Haryana Haryana () is a States and union territories of India, state located in the northern part of India. It was carved out after the linguistic reorganisation of Punjab, India, Punjab on 1 November 1966. It is ranked 21st in terms of area, with les ...

police, under whose jurisdiction the crime happened, issued arrest warrants against Upendra Aggarwal, a general physician and an associate of Amit Kumar for his involvement in the scandal. However, at the time of the police raid, Kumar and his other accomplices escaped after the knowledge of possible arrests. The raid helped rescue five people and shifted them to a Gurgaon hospital.

Aftermath of the raid

On 25 January 2008, the police detained a

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–based

non-resident Indian Overseas Indians (ISO: ), officially Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) and People of Indian Origin (PIOs) are people of Indian descent who reside or originate outside of India (Including those that were directly under the British Raj). According to t ...

couple and three Greek nationals, two among them being patients receiving the transplants. The police revealed that Dr. Amit Kumar and his accomplices had performed 600 kidney transplants in the past decade. Additionally, at least two hospitals were involved in the after care of patients.Scheper-Hughes, Nancy. The Last Commodity: Post-Human Ethics, Global (In)Justice, and the Traffic in Organs. Penang: Multiversity & Citizens International, 2008. Police, through the technology of fingerprinting, determined that Kumar went by many aliases and had been previously arrested at least four different times for illegal

organ trade Organ trade (also known as the blood market or the red market) is the trading of human organs, tissues, or other body products, usually for transplantation.(Carney, Scott. 2011. "The Red Market." Wired 19, no. 2: 112–1. Internet and Personal C ...

operations. It was further revealed that Kumar, his brother Jeevan Kumar, Upendra Aggarwal and Saraj Kumar, an anesthesiologist were previously arrested three times on charges of illegal human organ transplantation in

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and

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. They were, however, released on bail. On 7 January 2008 Kumar was arrested by

Delhi Police The Delhi Police (DP) is the law enforcement agency for the National Capital Territory of Delhi. Delhi Police falls under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India. In 2024, the sanctioned strength of Delhi Police w ...

but was released on a bribe of Rs. 20 lakhs. Jeevan Kumar was later arrested on 17 February 2008 in Delhi. The Indian Medical Association, arranged a probe by its three-member committee, and further requested investigation by

Central Bureau of Investigation The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is the domestic crime investigating agency of India. It operates under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions. Originally set up to investigate bribery and gover ...

(CBI), India's higher investigation agency. The Haryana police further uncovered 2 hospitals and 10 laboratories in Greater

Noida Noida (), short for New Okhla Industrial Development Authority (ISO: ), is a city located in Gautam Buddha Nagar district of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. As per provisional reports of Census of India, the population of Noida in 2011 was ...

and

Meerut Meerut (, ISO 15919, ISO: ''Mēraṭh'') is a city in the western region of the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. Located in the Meerut district, it is northeast of the national capital, New Delhi, and is ...

, cities nearby to

for their alleged involvement in the scandal. In the meanwhile, a Gurgaon court had issued arrest warrants for Amit Kumar and his brother, Jeevan Kumar Rawat. With growing suspicions that Kumar might have fled the country, the

police requested the CBI to alert the

Interpol The International Criminal Police Organization – INTERPOL (abbreviated as ICPO–INTERPOL), commonly known as Interpol ( , ; stylized in allcaps), is an international organization that facilitates worldwide police cooperation and crime cont ...

. Thereafter, Red corner notices were issued for the Kumar siblings.

Arrest of Amit Kumar

On 7 February 2008, Amit Kumar was arrested in the neighboring country of

. He was hiding in a wildlife resort, about 35 miles from the Indo-Nepal border. He had a bank draft worth Rs. 9,36,000 along with a total of

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145,000 and $18,900 in cash. At the resort he made an unsuccessful attempt to bribe the Nepali policemen to let him go. The charges filed against him by CBI are under sections 326 (voluntarily causing grievous hurt by dangerous weapon), sections 342 (wrongful confinement), sections 420 (cheating) and sections 120B (criminal conspiracy).

Subsequent conviction

In March 2013, a CBI special court convicted five accused while acquitting another five in the case of a Gurgaon kidney transplant racket that was busted in 2008. Dr Upender Dublesh and Dr Amit Kumar, who was termed a "quack" in no uncertain terms by the court, got seven-year rigorous imprisonment (RI) besides a fine of over Rs. 60 lakh each.

References

{{Organ transplantation 2008 disasters in India Corruption in Haryana Crime in Gurgaon Health disasters in India Medical controversies in India Medical scandals in India Organ trade