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CHANDRAPUR: A pan-India kidney trafficking syndicate with alleged links to Cambodia and China has been uncovered in eastern Maharashtra, exposing an illicit market where transplants fetched up to Rs 80 lakh while impoverished donors were allegedly paid as little as Rs 5 lakh, police said Wednesday. Police have named two specialists – Dr Ravinder Pal Singh of New Delhi and Dr Rajratnam Govindswamy of Trichy – as key players in the network, unearthed by a Maharashtra govt-appointed SIT after farmer Roshan Kule, from Minthur village in Vidarbha region, said he was forced to sell a kidney in Cambodia to escape loan sharks. Singh was arrested in New Delhi recently and produced before a city court for transit remand but received interim bail after the Maharashtra team’s flight was cancelled. He has been directed to appear before the Chandrapur chief judicial magistrate on Jan. 2. Govindswamy, MD of the Trichy hospital, is on the run. Chandrapur SP Mummaka Sudarshan said investigation points to several surgeries being conducted at STAR KIMS Hospital in Trichy. Investigators said each transplant was priced between Rs 50 lakh and Rs 80 lakh. Singh allegedly received about Rs 10 lakh for each surgery, travelling from New Delhi to Trichy to operate. Govindswamy allegedly charged nearly Rs 20 lakh for treatment and hospital arrangements.
