KANPUR: In a major breakthrough in the illegal kidney transplant racket, Kanpur police on Monday arrested 34-year-old Rohit Tewari, a Class XII pass-out who allegedly posed as a doctor and carried out around 30 transplant surgeries.
Tewari, who carried a ₹25,000 bounty, had been on the run since the racket was busted on March 31, moving across Goa, Kathmandu, Manali and Shimla to evade arrest.
The racket came to light after police raided Ahuja Hospital in Maswanpur following a tip-off and uncovered illegal transplant procedures being conducted across multiple hospitals in the city. Investigations revealed a wide network spanning Kanpur, Lucknow, Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and even Nepal.
According to police, the syndicate used Telegram to target economically vulnerable individuals, luring them into selling their kidneys for ₹5–10 lakh. These organs were then sold to wealthy recipients for as much as ₹60 lakh to ₹1 crore.
Police Commissioner Raghubir Lal said Tewari admitted he had no medical qualifications and impersonated a doctor. Authorities recovered photographs showing him in a stethoscope and surgical attire, including images from inside operation theatres where he was allegedly performing procedures.
Following the March 31 raid, police conducted further searches at Priya Hospital in Panki Kalyanpur and Medlife Hospital in Awas Vikas. In one case, a student from Begusarai, Bihar, was found to have donated a kidney to a woman admitted at Priya Hospital.
The student told investigators that he had been influenced by Shivam Agrawal, an ambulance driver and broker, whom he met via Telegram. Agrawal reportedly cited examples of public figures like Amitabh Bachchan and spiritual leader Premanand Maharaj to convince him that living with one kidney was safe, ultimately persuading him to undergo the procedure.
Police also found serious violations of medical protocols. In several cases, no official patient records or Bed Head Tickets (BHTs) were created, and post-operative details were written on plain paper without hospital stamps or documentation.
So far, authorities have arrested Ahuja Hospital owners Dr Surjit Ahuja and Preeti Ahuja, broker Shivam Agrawal, and nine others. Interrogations have identified Tewari, a Delhi resident, as the alleged mastermind of the operation. Dr Afzal of Meerut and OT technician Mudassar Ali have also been named in the case, with rewards announced for their arrest.
Police said several patients and donors linked to the racket have died, allegedly due to botched surgeries carried out by unqualified individuals.
Investigations are ongoing as authorities work to dismantle the wider network behind the illegal transplant syndicate.
