BARELY two months before an illegal kidney transplant was stopped by the Mumbai Police at the LH Hiranandani Hospital last Thursday, another illegal kidney transplant allegedly took place at the same hospital in May.

An accused arrested in the latest case Tuesday reportedly told investigators about the illegal transplant in which his wife had donated her kidney under an assumed name. A senior officer said the accused indeed made such a claim, but the police were yet to verify it with the hospital records.

Following the arrest of the hospital’s transplant coordinator found to be involved in the racket, the Powai police had said they were scrutinising previous kidney transplants taken place at the Hiranandani hospital.

By law, an organ can be donated only by the patient’s spouse or blood relative.

The Powai police arrested one Yusuf Shah Diwan, 45, Tuesday. It’s the seventh arrest in the case. The probe revealed that Diwan introduced Bhijendra Bhisen alias Sandeep, the alleged mastermind of the entire racket, to one Shobha Thakur, a domestic help from Gujarat who was to donate her kidney.

Diwan, who is from Nadiad in Gujarat, was produced in the Andheri court on Tuesday. Sources linked to the investigation said Diwan had revealed that his wife had donated her kidney to a woman patient, not a blood relative, in May, and that the transplant took place at the LH Hiranandani Hospital.

“Both Diwan and his wife had been given new names. Diwan could not donate his kidney since he had medical issues. Hence, his wife posed as a relative of the recipient and donated her kidney,” said an officer, quoting the statement of the accused. “We are checking the hospital records to cross-verify whatever information he has provided. However, the kidney transplants that have taken place in the past year are definitely under the scanner,” the officer confirmed.

When contacted, Dr Sujit Chatterjee, CEO of the hospital, said he was not aware of any such allegation made by any accused.

Magistrate Ashwini Lokhande remanded Diwan and six other men in police custody until July 22. Thakur and Surat-based textile agent Brijkishor Jaiswal, who was to receive the kidney, have been named as wanted accused in the case. The duo are likely to be discharged from the hospital Wednesday morning. The Powai police said they would be placed under formal arrest thereafter.

Seeking custody of the accused, the police informed the Andheri court that Nilesh Kamble, the hospital’s assistant manager (medicine), and the transplant coordinator cleared the forged birth certificate, marriage certificate, ration card, and a notarised statement of Thakur, who was to donate her kidney, for submission to the hospital’s scrutiny committee.

“Kamble received forged documents submitted by the accused and passed them onward. He helped facilitate the transplant and took money in exchange,” said the application for his remand. However, a lawyer for Kamble argued that the police had provided no evidence of his involvement in the forgery. “He is not the author of any document, the hospital’s scrutiny committee was to scrutinise the documents,” he argued.

Advocate Kapil Dave, representing Jaiswal’s son Kisan Jaiswal, argued in a similar vein. “The forgery was not committed by my client and neither is he a signatory to any document. The police is presuming that the hospital is involved, but has found nothing against them,” Dave argued.

In the current case, investigators said, the donor was promised around Rs 3 lakh for the organ. The accused allegedly prepared forged documents to pass off the donor as a family member of the recipient. A kidney transplant so facilitated would usually cost the recipient anything over Rs 20 lakh, investigators found.

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