VIJAYAWADA: Bhavanipuram police arrested as many as four accused in the sensational kidney transplantation racket case here on Wednesday. According to West Zone Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) K Hanumantha Rao, the four accused were identified as residents of Bhavanipuram--Kati Karthik (30), his wife Kati Nagamani (26), Tammisetti Venkayya (34) and Vanamala Kanaka Lakshmi (30) were formed as a team, while Karthik worked under another accused named Babu Rao.
During the investigation, the Bhavanipuram police learnt that Kata Karthik played a crucial role in applying fake Family Member Certificates (FMCs) and No Objection Certificates (NOCs) on behalf of donors who were allegedly lured by offering cash amounts ranging between Rs 5 lakh and Rs 10 lakh.
Elaborating on the modus operandi of the racket, police said that the accused, Karthik, used to work as a construction worker earlier, however, he lost his job during the pandemic.
Later, he worked under one Babu Rao, who is also a mediator and gained some contacts in various private hospitals in the city.
When Karthik came to know about one Deepak Reddy who was searching for kidney donors, he contacted Reddy and settled to provide Rs 29 lakh to a donor.
“In that process, Karthik approached various people in his circle and finalised one woman, Gaadu Chinna, offering her Rs 5 lakh.
In order to take the process to the next level, he applied FMC and NOC with the West zone tahsildar office where the entire racket came into light,” ACP Hanumantha Rao explained.
“Both Karthik and Babu Rao are mediators and we are assuming that they might have a huge network with the management of various hospitals in the city,” K Hanumantha Rao added.
He further said that a probe was underway to find out if any other accused was part of the racket. “In both cases, we acted in advance before the kidney transplantation surgeries were performed. The investigation is on,” K Hanumantha Rao stated. Meanwhile, Bhavanipuram police launched a manhunt to nab the absconding Babu Rao.