A key suspect, an operating theatre technician, has surrendered in the Kanpur kidney transplant racket, accused of posing as a doctor and performing illegal surgeries.
In another breakthrough in the alleged kidney transplant racket here, the absconding OT technician Mudassar Ali, who allegedly posed as a doctor, surrendered before court on Thursday, said police.
The additional chief judicial magistrate remanded him to 14-day judicial custody.
Commissioner of Police Raghubir Lal told PTI that the accused Mudassir Ali appeared before court to surrender and was taken into custody.
Ali, carrying a reward of Rs 25,000 on his arrest had been on the run for over two weeks, evading arrest despite police searches across Noida, Ghaziabad, and parts of Uttarakhand.
Despite the manhunt, he managed to avoid arrest and directly surrendered in court, Lal added.
Investigation suggest Ali played a key role in the illegal transplant network.
He is accused of carrying out critical surgical steps during illegal kidney transplants -- including making incisions, extracting kidneys from donors, and assisting in implant procedures.
Police estimate that over 30 such illegal transplants may have been conducted in Kanpur with his active involvement, according to sources privy with the probe.
An official said Ali operated with a team, typically including another doctor and two assistants. After each procedure, the group would disperse to different cities, such as Lucknow, Meerut and Ghaziabad, to evade detection.
Meanwhile, Rajesh Kumar -- one of the arrestees -- has told investigators that at least five transplants were carried out since January this year, allegedly involving Ali, police said.
On March 30, police had busted a kidney transplant racket in Kanpur with the arrest of six persons, including five doctors.
The arrests followed raids conducted on March 30 at Med-Life Hospital, Ahuja Hospital, and Priya Hospital in the Kalyanpur area, by a joint team of police and health department officials led by Chief Medical Officer Haridutt Nemi.
Ahuja Hospital owners Dr Preeti Ahuja, 50, her husband Dr Surjeet Singh Ahuja, 54, and medical practitioners Rajesh Kumar, 44, Ram Prakash, 40, and Narendra Singh were arrested for facilitating unlawful organ transplants, the commissioner said.
Police have also arrested alleged masterminds of the operation -- Rohit and ambulance driver Shivam Agarwal (32) -- who allegedly impersonated medical practitioners and acted as key links between doctors, donors and recipients.
OT technicians Kuldeep Singh Raghav and Rajesh Kumar, who were also part of the illegal transplant procedures, were arrested.
With Ali's surrender, the total number of arrests in the case has risen to 11.
The racket came to light when a donor, Ayush, an MBA student from Bihar, approached police over a payment dispute, alleging he only received Rs 3.5 lakh out of the agreed amount of Rs 10 lakh for his kidney.