Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) on Wednesday arrested a five-member fraud kidney-selling gang.
The gang used to take over Tk50 lakh from recipients, but only paid the donors Tk5 lakh, and shared the rest of the money among themselves, said RAB-1 Commander Lt Col Muhammad Mostaq Ahmed at a press conference on Thursday.
The arrestees have been identified as Anisur Rahman, Md Ariful Islam Rajib, Salauddin Tuhin, Saiful Islam, and Enamul Hossain.
They were arrested from different areas in Dhaka, and a copy of the affidavit and agreements between the victims and the gang were recovered from them.
The RAB official said that the gang has taken kidneys from more than 50 people illegally so far.
In 2019, Anisur, the mastermind of the gang, was duped by going to India on fake documents for kidney treatment. He sold one of his kidneys in exchange for money.
However, lured by the huge demand for kidney transplant patients there, Anisur returned to the country and got into the illegal business of selling kidneys himself, the RAB official said.
He established a gang with the help of kidney-buying and selling gangs based in India, Commander Lt Col Muhammad Mostaq Ahmed added.
How the gang operated
The RAB official said the gang worked in four groups.
The first group was based abroad and connected with affluent patients seeking kidney transplants through social media. Anis was responsible for overseeing the process of sending kidney donors overseas. On the other hand, Arif and Tuhin's roles involved identifying financially vulnerable individuals in remote regions of the country based on the demand for kidneys.
Taking advantage of their dire financial circumstances, the gang would entice these destitute people to come to Dhaka, offering them money in exchange for becoming kidney donors for transplantation.
Subsequently, the gang would proceed to conduct blood matching and various other tests between the potential kidney donors and the patients in need of transplantation.
The mastermind behind the fourth group was Saiful Islam, the owner of Sahibana Tours and Travels. His role involved preparing kidney donors for transportation to a neighboring country. This process included arranging passports, handling visa processing, and creating fake documents for the donors.
Responding to a question from reporters, Mostaq Ahmed said the gang is not connected to any other syndicate, however, they have been active in Dhaka for a long time.
The official also said they are still looking into whether the gang was involved in the recent kidney donation scam at Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU).