Hyderabad: A court on Thursday granted the Saroornagar police three-day custody of two doctors accused in the kidney racket. Police will take custody of Dr G. Sumanth, managing director of Alakananda Hospital, and general surgeon Dr Siddamshetty Avinash on Friday.Meanwhile, two donors and one recipient, who were recovering at Gandhi Hospital, were discharged.Police believe interrogating the doctors will shed light on the scam, particularly how they approached donors and recipients, a police officer said. Sources said tracking another accused, Pavan, who is in Sri Lanka, has proven challenging. Police are working to obtain his passport details and will issue lookout notices.Another key accused, Ponnuswamy Pradeep from Karnataka, played a crucial role in the racket by identifying individuals in need of kidney transplants. He helped find the two recipients, Raja Shekar and Krupalatha. Poorna, another accused, then collected blood samples from donors and recipients. Once their blood groups and human leukocyte antigen (HLA) matched, the transplantation process was initiated.The five medical assistants arrested in the case had previously worked as lab technicians in different hospitals. They uploaded their resumes on job networking platforms and were recruited under the guise of “medical Assistant” positions. Their role involved assisting during surgeries, while the actual transplantation was performed by surgeons.Meanwhile, donors Nasreen Banu Eliyash and Firdosh, along with recipient B.S. Raja Shekar, were discharged from Gandhi Hospital after being under observation for two weeks following kidney transplants at Alakananda Hospital, Saroor Nagar.A source revealed, “Four of them were brought to the hospital on January 21 and kept in a dedicated ICU for transplant patients. They were monitored by the nephrology and urology departments. The critical part of recovery is post-surgical care, as there is a high risk of infection. They were observed for two weeks.”One of the recipients, Krupalatha, who was also admitted to Gandhi Hospital, sought discharge at her own risk and moved to NIMS. However, NIMS authorities denied this claim. Sources at Gandhi Hospital told Deccan Chronicle that she was transferred to NIMS two days after arriving at Gandhi Hospital.The discharge report of the donors and the recipient stated that they had undergone kidney transplantation at a private hospital and were later brought to Gandhi Hospital by police and medical officials. They were placed under observation, found to be stable, and discharged after recovery with a week-long medication regimen. Police have not yet registered cases against the donors or recipients and seeking legal opinion on whether to file charges against the donors and recipients.
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