Kidney Sale: Seven Hills Hospital Director Arrested

Bhubaneswar: In the much sensational second case of kidney sale in Cuttack, the Commissionerate of Police arrested a senior official of SevenHills Hospital in Visakhapatnam on charges of not verifying documents prior to the organ transplant.

A senior director of the hospital N Pravakar Babu, who is ill and undergoing medical treatment, has however not been taken to Odisha for interrogation, a senior police officer said. The doctor treating him has referred to Hyderbad for better care. He will be brought to Odisha after his health condition improved, the investigating officer added.

Talking to media over the issue, police commissioner RP Sharma said the Transplantation of Human Organs Act has been violated in the case. An NoC is needed if the transplantation is made outside the State which was not abided by the Seven Hills hospital. Similarly, approval of authorization committee of the concerned hospital is required in such cases while the hospital has not obeyed it, Sharma added.

According to the complaint, Sarmistha Nayak of Nayak Sahi in Cuttack lured one Namita Nayak of the same locality with Rs 10 lakh for donating one of her kidney. A poverty-stricken Namita agreed on the hope that it would help overcome her financial burden.

Accordingly, she was taken to the Seven Hills Hospital after all her documents including photographs, voter ID and residencel proofs were forged in a bid to present her as Binita Nayak, the wife of the recipient.

Later, Namita complained to police after she was denied the promised amount after successful transplantation.

Notably, the middleman Sarmistha is already behind bars after being arrested earlier in a similar case of organ sale.