CBI probe hints sale of organs from unidentified bodies thrived at R G Kar hospital: Report

The CBI probe into the irregularities at R G Kar Medical College Hospital in Kolkata, where a trainee doctor was found raped and murdered, has revealed that the business of selling organs extracted from unidentified dead bodies thrived in the hospital over the last few years. 

The preliminary evidence unearthed by the CBI sleuths also reveals that the organs were freely removed from the bodies of unidentified persons in the morgues of various government hospitals, according to Anand Bazaar Patrika.  

The officials also obtained clues from the petitioner Akhtar Ali, whose plea seeking a probe into the financial irregularities at the hospital prompted the CBI investigation, on the organ trade in the RG Kar. Two persons close to the former principal Sandip Ghosh were also traced by the CBI and questioning them revealed strong evidence of illegal organ trade. 

The investigators are also collecting the records of autopsies being conducted in the R G Kar Hospital for the last seven years. Sources told Anand Baazar Patrika that there were some discrepancies in the documents. 

Not just R G Kar, several government hospitals in the states are dens of corruption and initial estimates by the CBI officers hint the graft could go up to over 200 crores over the last seven years. The CBI officials identified several private hospitals engaged in the same, said the report. 

Each organ is priced around Rs 4 to Rs 8 lakh. The clutches of the trade extend to other states too. Human organs were reportedly smuggled from the mortuary of various medical colleges to other private medical institutions. There has been a huge demand for heart, liver, and kidney after the number of medical colleges and hospitals increased in the state. 

There are hints that doctors from prominent hospitals were also part of the nexus. 

Meanwhile, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) officials are conducting raids at the residences linked to Sandip Ghosh. This includes several places in Kolkata and its suburbs, including the residence of Ghosh's father Satya Prakash Ghosh.

The ED officials have recently revealed that Ghosh's wife had purchased two immovable assets without "proper approval" from West Bengal government authorities. The statement added that they "found" documents related to about half a dozen houses, flats and a farmhouse owned by the doctor couple during searches.

Sandip Ghosh has been booked by the ED in alleged financial irregularities linked money laundering case after taking cognisance of a CBI FIR.