LUCKNOW: Two persons, including a quack, were arrested for running a racket of injecting out blood of youngsters by sedating them in Basti district in eastern UP on Monday.
The members of the group, caught red-handed by the police, used to sell the blood thus robbed from young boys to local hospitals and blood banks in adjoining districts as well.
The gang known as 'Khoon Chuswa' (bloodsuckers) in local parlance had been active and flourishing in the district for quite some time as its members used to woo young boys with Rs 500 for each session of blood donation.
While accused Akash (33) and Dr Prabhakar Singh (40) were held by the district police and booked under Sections 328 (causing hurt by means of poison) and 420 (cheating) of the Indian Penal Code, the police claimed that efforts were on to nab other members of the criminal group in the days to come.
As per the local sources, some locals on Monday saw accused Akash luring a child by offering him a chocolate to the clinic owned by Dr Prabhakar Singh. Suspecting a foul play, the locals alerted police officials who rushed to the spot and caught both Akash and Dr Singh extracting blood from the victim who was seemingly sedated by them.
Sharing the details of the modus operandi of the notorious gang, Basti SP Pankaj Kumar said that Akash of Nepal was entrusted with the task of wooing the youngsters to the clinic where they were sedated against their will. The victims would be paid Rs 500 for each session and asked to keep mum over the incident," said the SP.
According to sources, the gang would then sell the blood to a hospital located near a national highway in the district.
"Over the last few months, the gang has duped many youngsters. However, nobody approached the police as they used to get Rs 500 after every procedure," said Prabhat, the complainant in the case.