Phagwara mayor bought kidney for daughter for Rs 40 lakh, say police

MUMBAI: After busting an intercontinental kidney racket, Mumbai police have claimed that the alleged kingpin, Suresh Prajapati (45), and his aide Vruchantala Nizamuddin (35) had collected at least Rs 40 lakh from the mayor of Phagwara in Punjab, Arun Khosla, to get his daughter a kidney from a donor based in Andhra Pradesh, and to conduct the transplant in Cairo this year.

A police team sent to Delhi has recorded Khosla's statement.

Police said they would seek expert opinion to decide if the patients and the donors should be added among the accused named in the case.

A police source said Prajapati and Nizamuddin got in touch with Khosla and the donor through social media and made arrangements for the transplant in the Egyptian capital. Khosla confirmed on Tuesday that his daughter had undergone a transplant. "I cannot divulge the details. A police team has recorded my statement," he added.

Prajapati and Nizamuddin had trafficked four patients and four donors to Cairo for transplants since May, said police. Two more donors who travelled on tourist visas were called back by police.

The racket was busted when immigration officials at Mumbai's Chhatrapati Shivaji airport caught Nizamuddin on September 2 after his frequent Cairo visits aroused suspicion. "Initially, he denied any wrongdoing, but confessed after immigration officials found three passports in his possession," a police officer said.

Nizamuddin was handed over to police, and it was subsequently revealed that he was merely a carrier and worked for Prajapati. "Nizamuddin's arrest led us to Prajapati," the officer said. Prajapati had been arrested in Andhra Pradesh in 2016 too, after facilitating 58 transplants in Sri Lanka since 2014. He started the Egypt operation while out on bail.