Banasawadi police in
Bengaluru on Sunday, arrested a gang of six, including a Nigerian and two
Sudanese nationals, who allegedly duped over 200 people by promising them to
buy or sell kidneys online.
The gang claimed to
have been authorised by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and had misused the
name of a super-speciality hospital and reputed doctors to lure gullible people
seeking kidneys for transplants.
The arrested are Esene
Lovely (29) from Benin city, Igueben Edo State, Nigeria, Mohamed Ahmed Ismail
(24) from Khartoum, and Marwan Faisal (27) from Sannr, Sudan, Herendra Tripura
(25) from Tripura, Kami Ranjan (21) and Jatin Kumar (25) both from Bommanahalli
in Bengaluru.
A senior police
officer said they tracked down mobile numbers mentioned on their website, after
Dr Shafiq M M, director of a private hospital, lodged a complaint.
The cheating came to
light recently when a few people approached the hospital seeking
clarifications, which prompted Dr Shafiq to alert the police. The police
recovered bank account details, ATM, SIM cards and mobile phones after
conducting a raid.
The gang was offering
kidneys to patients in need and also offered to buy kidneys from donors. They
also mentioned the names of reputed doctors to convince the victims and had allegedly
taken money ranging between Rs 50,000 to Rs 60,000 on the pretext of insurance
and registration from about 200 people.
The accused Esene
Lovely, Ismail and Marwan are overstaying their visas in the city. The other
three used to buy SIM cards which they used in the scam, the police said.