Guwahati, Nov. 2: City police today arrested two persons for allegedly trading in human organs. The duo was arrested for trying to sell a kidney for Rs 1.5 lakh. The sensational case appears to have blown the lid off a well-organised racket in the sale of human organs.

The duo, pretending to be father and son, approached a magistrate yesterday with affidavits in which they stated that the younger man wanted to donate one of his kidneys to a family friend, who desperately needed one such organ.

The would-be recipient, 65-year-old Dipak Chandra Bhuyan, also submitted an affidavit asserting that the kidney was being donated to him and no financial transaction was involved.

However, subdivisional magistrate C.K. Bhuyan spotted certain anomalies in the affidavits and became suspicious. He carried out a sustained interrogation and discovered that all three were lying.

Bhuyan informed police, who apprehended the “father-son” duo last evening. They were identified as Pramod Das, 25, and Ananta Bose, 60.

The duo was arrested today after Bhuyan filed a written complaint at Panbazar police station. A case has been registered against them under Sections 419 and 420 of IPC on charges of making false statements before a court.

Police are also examining the possibility of booking them under provisions of the Transplantation of Human Organs Act, 1994.

“It appears that an organised racket is involved. A hunt has been launched to nab the middleman who made arrangements between Bhuyan and donor Das,” additional superintendent of police (city) Rajen Singh said.

The arrest of the middleman, whose name has not been disclosed by the police yet, holds the key to cracking this case.

A police official of Panbazar police station said Pramod Das had identified himself as Pramod Kalita and Ananta Bose claimed to be his father, under the name of Ananta Kalita.

The police have ascertained that Pramod Das is the son of late Mathura Das of Chaparmukh under Raha police station of Nagaon district.

According to the police source, Bose hails from Hoogly in West Bengal and was staying at Tetelia in Jalukbari area of the city.

“The middleman had arranged the meeting between the would-be recipient and the donor. The price of the kidney was fixed at Rs 1.5 lakh. We haven’t taken any action against Bhuyan so far owing to his ill health,” the police source explained.

“From preliminary investigations, it seems the middleman had brokered similar deals on earlier occasions as well,” the officer added.

Section 19 of the Transplantation of Human Organs Act forbids exchange of any money between a donor and a recipient. A donor who is not related to a recipient has to file an affidavit in the court of a magistrate to the effect that the organ is being donated out of “love and affection” for the recipient, not for financial gain.

Donation Route

Who can donate a kidney?

• A brain dead person
• A close relative
• An unrelated living donor

Can a kidney be procured from a donor?

• No. Section 19 of the Transplantation of Human Organs Act, 1994, forbids exchange of any money between a donor and a recipient

Procedure to be followed for kidney donation (in case of unrelated donor)

• The unrelated donor has to file an affidavit in the court of a magistrate to the effect that the organ is being donated out of love and affection for the recipient
• Thereafter, the donor has to undergo a battery of tests before the transplant
• The authorisation committee set up by the state government ensures that all documents needed under the Act have been supplied

Where is the loophole?

• The authorisation committee does not have wherewithal to verify information in the affidavit