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Chennai police bust organ trade racket; arrest 5
The Chennai Police arrested five people, including two African nationals, from Bengaluru for allegedly creating a fake website for selling human organs. The website looked similar to that of a famous hospital and engaged in illegal activities.
The police action came after the public relations manager of a Chennai-based hospital filed a complaint over the fake website, citing advertisements for human organs on it.
Based on the complaint, the cybercrime unit of the Chennai South police registered a complaint under several sections of the IPC including cheating. An investigation into the case revealed that a gang was running a fake website in Bengaluru.
After tracing their location, police conducted a raid and nabbed five people identified as Jermia, Olivia, Monika, Ram Bahadur Riyang and Erom Jamson Singh. Jermia and Olivia are citizens of Nigeria and Uganda, respectively.
Police also seized mobile phones, bank passbooks, laptops and hard disks which the accused employed for committing the offence. The gang sought a price as high as Rs 5 crore for providing human organs like lungs and kidneys, among others, police said.
The accused, in addition to running the fake website, were also involved in other crimes which included, selling chemicals that convert black papers into dollars, extorting money through porn video calls and cheating under the pretext of offering prostitutes, among others.
The accused used bank accounts and SIM cards of people living in India for these activities. Further, they also prepared standard operating procedures (SOPs) on how to talk to potential customers and answer their questions.
Following their arrest, all five accused were produced before the court. Further investigation is underway in the matter, the police said. India Today