The police in eastern Pakistan have caught and stopped an illegal group that was taking organs from people. They arrested eight people who were cutting out kidneys from many patients. These kidneys were then given to rich people who needed a transplant. The authorities gave this information on Monday.
The accused gang leader, called “Dr Fawad,” is believed to have performed 328 surgeries on individuals to take out their kidneys and sold them for up to 10 million Pakistani rupees ($34,000) per kidney, according to Mohsin Naqvi, the head leader of Pakistan’s Punjab province.
Fawad supposedly got help from a car mechanic who gave him the anesthesia, according to Naqvi.
The leader of the government said that a group tricked sick people into coming to different locations and secretly did surgeries on them. These places were in Taxila, Lahore, and Pakistan-controlled Kashmir.
Naqvi said that they were able to do this in Kashmir because there is no law about kidney transplant. This made it easier for them to perform the operations there.
The chief minister has confirmed that three people have died, but the authorities are still making sure of the information.
“He said there are other actions that have been done, but we have only confirmed this number. ”
Fawad was arrested five times before, but he was let go each time and could continue doing what he was doing, Naqvi explained.
Some patients didn’t know that their kidney was taken out.
The police took about two months to investigate the case after a man said that one of the suspected gang members convinced him to get medical treatment done privately.
Afterwards, when he saw another doctor for more help, the chief minister said that he didn’t have a kidney.
Naqvi is helping the Inspector General of Police of Punjab to make the country’s cyber laws stronger. Their goal is to stop illegal kidney transplant advertisements from being shown on the internet.
“He said we are fully dedicated to monitoring other gangs who are operating in a similar way. ”
In 2007, Pakistan made it illegal to buy and sell organs for money. Then, in 2010, they made a stronger law that says anyone who takes organs from people or sells them can go to jail for up to 10 years and have to pay 1 million rupees ($3,400).
Before the law was passed, the country was a hub for foreigners and rich people from Pakistan who were looking to buy organs. Kidneys were bought and sold regularly, and some poor Pakistanis even sold their kidneys to make money for their basic needs.
However, the illegal act of performing kidney transplants without authorization is still happening. Local news outlets have said that this trend of illegal kidney transplants has reemerged in recent times.
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