Hyderabad: Police said on Saturday that one of the doctors arrested at the Alakananda Hospital in Saroornagar for illegal kidney transplants had been carrying out similar surgeries since 2023 at his hospital. Over 20 kidneys had been illegally bought and transplanted, and the discovery of two of them at the Alakananda Hospital on Sunday blew the lid off the scam.
Police have arrested nine persons, including Alakananda Hospital managing director Dr Guntupally Sumanth, general surgeon Dr Siddamshetty Avinash, and seven others. Two key organisers, Pavan alias Leon and Laxman, are still on the run.
Rachakonda police commissioner G. Sudheer Babu said Dr Avinash, who had been involved in illegal surgeries at Alakananda Hospital for seven months, ahd confessed.
The commissioner said that Dr Avinash, who had completed his MBBS in China and a diploma in surgery in Pune, used to run two outfits, Janani Hospital in Saidabad and Aruna Hospital in Kukatpally.
He was facing financial difficulties in running the hospital and was on the verge of selling them when he was approached by Laxman, a resident of Visakhapatnam in 2022. Laxman offered Dr Avinash `2.5 lakh per illegal kidney transplantation surgery if he allowed his hospital premises to be used.
Police said Laxman handled the logistics of the surgeries, including sourcing donors, organising medical staff, and finding recipients. “In a bid to alleviate his financial strain, Dr Avinash agreed,” commissioner Sudheer Babu said.
From April 2023 to June 2024, the illegal transplant surgeries were carried out at Janani Hospital, with Dr Avinash receiving `2.5 lakh for each operation. Pavan, another organiser, assisted in sourcing the doctors and medical staff, including Dr Raj Shekhar, the lead surgeon from Tamil Nadu, and Dr Sohib from Jammu and Kashmir.
These medical professionals were paid `10 lakh for each surgery. Additionally, each of the five operating theatre assistants received approximately `30,000 per surgery, police said.
Sudheer Babu added, “The recipients paid `55 lakh to `60 lakh for the illegal transplant procedures, out of which `15 lakh was given to the donor.”
After paying `2.5 lakh to Dr Avinash and `10 lakh to the lead surgeon and the operation theatre staff, the brokers and mediators used to pocket the remaining amount. “Pavan and Laxman, pocketed the bulk of the amount,” Sudheer Babu said.
In June 2024, Dr Avinash closed Janani Hospital due to administrative issues and then approached Dr Sumanth, managing director of Alakananda Hospital, to continue the illegal operations.
Dr Sumanth allegedly agreed to allow the use of his hospital’s operating theatre for `1.5 lakh per surgery, while Dr Avinash received `1 lakh. They conducted approximately 20 illegal kidney transplants at Alakananda Hospital between December 2024 and January 2025, Sudheer Babu said.
Sudheer Babu said the police were actively pursuing Pavan and Laxman, and were coordinating with law enforcement authorities across states. The arrested individuals were presented before the court and remanded to judicial custody.
The four others arrested were medical assistants Ramavath Ravi, Sapavath Ravinder, Sapavath Harish and Podila Sai. They were captured by the teams when they reached the city to stuck another deal, however police foiled the attempt and are probing it. Another team held one Ponnu Swamy from Karnataka and is suspected to be playing another key role in procuring contacts of the recipients.
