New Delhi, July 9– Police have arrested Dr. Vijaya Kumar, a senior consultant at Delhi's Indraprastha Apollo Hospital, for her alleged role in an active kidney trafficking ring operating between Bangladesh and India. The 50-year-old doctor is accused of being a key member of the ring, according to The Indian Express.

Preliminary investigations revealed that Dr. Vijaya Kumar performed kidney operations on at least 15 to 16 individuals at a hospital named 'Yartha' in Noida, a suburb on the outskirts of Delhi. The surgeries, conducted between 2021 and 2023, primarily involved removing kidneys from impoverished Bangladeshi citizens.

Police reports indicate that the trafficking ring lured poor Bangladeshis to hospitals around Delhi with promises of money. Once there, complicit doctors, including Dr. Vijaya Kumar, allegedly removed their kidneys.

Dr. Vijaya Kumar is said to be linked with several Bangladeshi nationals who are part of the trafficking network. Last month, Delhi Police arrested three Bangladeshi members of the gang. The police also recovered fake documents used by the ring to conduct these illegal operations, which were submitted to the Bangladesh High Commission.

Organ trafficking is a serious offense in India, as in most countries, where selling organs for money is illegal. However, voluntary organ donation is legally permitted. The trafficking ring reportedly operated by creating fraudulent documents to facilitate the illegal organ transplants.

Dr. Vijaya Kumar joined Indraprastha Apollo Hospital as a junior doctor 15 years ago and rose to the position of senior consultant and kidney transplant surgeon. He was also a visiting consultant at 'Yartha' hospital in Noida.

Sunil Balian, additional medical superintendent of Indraprastha Apollo Hospital, stated that none of the individuals whose kidneys were removed by Dr. Vijaya Kumar were registered patients at their hospital. They were admitted solely on his recommendation. The hospital authorities have since suspended Dr. Vijaya Kumar and clarified that no other doctors from Indraprastha Apollo Hospital were found to be involved in the trafficking ring.