Three doctors and a social worker, associated with Hiranandani Hospital, Powai, had tried to convince a kidney donor that the organ would regrow within 18 months, says the chargesheet in the kidney racket case.
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The donor has emerged as a key witness, along with a woman from Gujarat, who, the police say, was a part of the racket. Both have given their confessional statements under section 164 of the Code of Criminal Procedure before a magistrate. The statements, which can be treated as evidence during trial, have not been made public.
The witnesses have been identified as Dombivli resident Sundarsingh Jatav, the donor, and Ushaben Patel, the woman from Gujarat. The statements they gave the police are a part of the chargesheet, filed at the Andheri court on Monday. Patel introduced Anand resident Shobhana Thakore, who was brought to Mumbai as a potential donor, to the racket's kingpin, Sandeep Bisen, aka Bhejendra Bisen.
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The racket was busted on July 14 at Hiranandani Hospital, where Thakore's donation operation was stopped midway by the Powai police on receiving proof of forgery in the documents concerned. Earlier, in his police statement, Jatav stated that he met the racket's operators, Bisen and Iqbal Khan, while working in Mumbai Central a few years ago. They had collected his background details and convinced him to donate his kidney so that he could clear debts.
Jatav was undergoing tests when he developed chickenpox and was kept in a rented room in Nalasopara. After he was cured, the racketeers again arranged for him to undergo tests. Khan told Jatav that his kidney would regrow after removal. He gave him the example of blood, which regenerates after donation. Jatav was not convinced, prompting Khan to take him to Hiranandani Hospital, where he met medical social worker Nilesh Kamble, nephrologist Dr Mukesh Shete, and urologists Dr Mukesh Shah and Dr P Shetty.
"In Kamble's office, the doctors told me that my kidney would regrow after a year and a half," Jatav says in his police statement, which too is a part of the chargesheet.
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He was asked to visit the hospital again the next day, when he was introduced to a woman, Dimple Rungta, as the one to whom he would donate his kidney. The accused put a photo of Jatav and Dimple together to show them as close relatives and took his signature. Jatav and Dimple's transplant surgery was conducted, but the date is not mentioned in the statement.
Patel stated she had introduced Shobhana Thakore to one Vinod Patel, who was involved in the illegal kidney donation business. Ushaben had lent Rs 1.5 lakh to Thakore. Vinod came along with one Yusuf Bhai, and they promised Rs 2.5 lakh to Thakore for donating her kidney. They came to Mumbai thereafter and introduced her to Bisen.