Pramesh S Jain
The East Division police of Banaswadi police have arrested six people,including three foreign nationals,who allegedly duped over 200 people in a kidney racket.
The accused have been identified as Esene Lovely,29,from Nigeria;Mohamed Ahmed Ismail,24,and Marwan Faisal,27,both from Sudan;Herendra,25,and Jatin Kumar,25,from Tripura;and Kami Ranjan,21,from Bommanahalli in Bengaluru.
The gang has promised its victims to buy and sell kidneys and would cut off communication after families paid them an initial token amount to the start the process.One of the victims of the scam told police they offered to sell his kidney for Rs.2.5 crore.However, they first asked him to pay Rs.40,000 as registration fees.
The scam came to light when the victim did not receive any communication from them,after which he approached the hospital listed on their website seeking a clarification. This prompted the hospital to make enquiries found it is fake and he has been cheated.
According to reports, the gang approached individuals who were looking for an organ donor for a kidney transplant, as well as those who were willing to be donors in exchange for money. They would then collect registration fees from these individuals, which would amount to anywhere from Rs 40,000 to Rs 1.5 lakh.
After receiving the token amount, the gang would cut off all communication with the individuals. The gang has reportedly swindled around 260 individuals using the same modus operandi.The gang used to lure people with a website which claimed that they had the authorisation of WHO and also misused the name of a prominent hospitals as well as reputed doctors to lure innocent people.
Senior officer, told media persons,based on a complaint filed by,Dr.Shafiq MM, Director of the hospital,who stated in his complaint that some people are running fake kidney racket by creating a fake website mentioning their hospitals email ID and Doctors name and are cheating people.
As soon as the complaint was registered a special team was formed under DCP,East,Dr.SD.Sharanappa,under the able guidance of ACP,Raviprasad,team led by Banaswadi police inspector,H Jayaraj and his crime staff swung into action and the team using technical inputs and police investigation skills they tracked down the gang through their website and mobile numbers that they had published in the website.
Initially the team were able to track down one of the accused,Herendra,who had given his bank account details to the victim,the team picked him and grilled him who confessed the crime and said that he works in a garment factory and said the other gang members offered him Rs.5,000 per month for sharing his bank account details to potential victims of the scam,Senior officer said.
He even said,based on the statement of the accused our team were able to nab the rest of the gang based on a credible information the team apprehended other five persons at a coffee shop in HRBR Layout,which they frequently visited.
During the course of investigation the accused confessed the crime and a detailed investigation by the team it has come to light that accused,Esene Lovely, Ismail and Marwan had come to Bengauru on a study visa, but overstayed.
Investigations are on to ascertain the total number of people they have cheated in this manner.They ran a cheating scam under the guise of offering kidneys to patients in need,and also offering to buy kidneys from donors.He even said our initial investigations revealed that they cheated as many as 200 people of anywhere between Rs.50,000 and Rs.60,000 each which they charged as insurance and registration fees.
A total of six people have been arrested by the police, two of them Nigerians,one from Sudan.Three are foreigners and three others are from Tripura.The cops have seized passbook, mobile,ATM card and cheque books from their possession.And a case has been registered in Banaswadi police station,and further investigation is on.
Finally Bengaluru police commissioner,Bhaskar Rao,Addl CP East,S Murugan,has appreciated,DCP,East,Dr.SD Sharanappa,ACP,Banaswadi,Sub-Divsion,Raviprasad,PI,H Jayaraj,PSI,as,Ms.Sangeetha Chouhan,Probationary PSI,Shajahan S,Crime staff,as,Prakash,Balaji,Renukanayak,Jagadish,Chandraiah HB,Atif Hussain,and other staff were successful in busting the international level online fake kidney racket run by this notorious gang and a suitable reward will be given to the team he added.
