A fresh FIR was lodged by a person in central Assam’s Nagaon district on Thursday against the illegal inter-state human organ traders while Congress MP from the state and deputy leader for the party in Lok Sabha Gaurav Gogoi wrote to West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee to initiate a probe into the alleged involvement of a Kolkata-based hospital in the illegal trade.
The complainant – Deepak Singh said that he had escaped the trap of kidney racket and returned to Nagaon on Monday from Kolkata. He lodged the FIR at the Nagaon Sadar police station against one Deep Das and Padma Kanta Das.
Singh alleged that Deep and Padma had taken him to Kolkata in the pretext of giving a job and later forced him to sell one of his kidneys in exchange of Rs 4 lakh. However, he said, he refused to do that and escaped the trap.
Gogoi in a letter to the West Bengal CM wrote: “As per villagers’ statement, the racket targeted villagers who were under financial distress in the pretext of paying them about Rs 3-4 lakh in exchange of kidney. The links of the racket have been traced to Kolkata.”
Also read: Inter-state human organ trade racket busted in Morigaon, kingpin arrested
The Congress leader also informed her that a hospital located in Kolkata was also allegedly found to be linked to the racket.
He said that the pandemic has pushed people further into poverty and paved the way for such abominable instances. “In the hour of grief, we must stand in solidarity with the victims. Remaining committed to the protection of our people, we must send out a strong message to reflect our commitment to the aggrieved,” he wrote, requesting Banerjee to instruct the police to initiate an inquiry.
Police are yet to arrest the key players of the racket. Sources said that one Plabon Borthakur of Dhubri and another Rajesh Poddar of Morigaon were involved in the racket and believed to be the masterminds of the illegal trade. Both are still absconding.
“As of now, three persons have been arrested. Investigation is going on in an expeditious manner,” Morigaon SP Aparna N told TOI.
The three accused arrested on Monday were Ramen Medhi of Morigaon, Nilima Boro and her son Mukul Boro of Guwahati. They were arrested from Dakshin Dharamtul village in the district. The accused were allegedly running the illegal kidney trade in the village for the past few years.
Similar cases of people becoming victims of the illegal human organ trade have been reported in Nagaon and Dibrugarh district also.
On Tuesday, the Gauhati Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) lodged an FIR at the Bhangagarh police station in the city against the racketeers and urged nab all the people involved in the illegal trade.