RAWALPINDI: Five victims of a suspected kidney trading racket will undergo medical examinations to verify their claims on Monday after which the doctors allegedly involved in stealing their organs will be charged under the Punjab Human Organ Transplantation Act 2012.

The five people were allegedly deprived of their one kidney each by doctors at a kidney centre in Morgah during the last one year. They have been brought to Rawalpindi from their native towns and kept under tight security of the police apparently to keep them from the members of the organ trafficking ring.

When the five people were produced before the District Vigilance Committee on Saturday, they verified their statements already recorded with the police.

The victims had complained to the police that members of the gang trapped them on the pretext of providing them with jobs. Once in Rawalpindi, the gang allegedly took out their kidneys at the centre. Later, they were handed Rs50,000 to Rs90,000 each and asked to go home.

The vigilance committee is headed by the district coordination officer and comprises the district police officer, the district officer Intelligence Bureau, district officer Special Branch, the executive district officer health, the principal of a government medical college, the medical superintendent of the DHQ hospital.

City Police Officer (CPO) Israr Ahmed Khan Abbasi, who is also a member of the committee, has already said the police were facing legal hurdles to handle cases against illegal organ transplant centres.

The police can initiate action against any suspect only on the recommendation of the vigilance committee.

Another senior police official said after the medical examination and completion of other requirements, legal action would be initiated against the doctors allegedly involved in the illegal kidney trade.

A woman from Mandi Bahauddin, who is among the five victims, also appeared before the committee to record her statement. She accused the doctors of depriving her of the kidney for Rs90,000.

The illicit organ trafficking gang was unearthed last month when 20 people, including four women, were recovered from an illegal detention at a commercial building in Bahria Town Phase VII. The police had said some of the people detained there by the gang were to be operated upon at the centre.

The police arrested four suspected members of the ring though the doctors allegedly involved in the illegal trade are still at large.

Published in Dawn, November 14th, 2016