LAHORE: The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) on Thursday arrested two more suspects involved in the illegal organ trade.

“The FIA corporate crime circle team have arrested two more suspects - Muhammad Athar (operation theatre assistant at Lahore General Hospital and Naveed Hameed (operation theatre assistant at Mayo) - in illegal organ trade,” FIA Lahore Deputy Director Jamil Ahmed Khan Mayo told Dawn.

He said both suspects were partners of arrested Dr Fawad Mumtaz and Dr Altamash Kheral.

“The suspects carried out a number of illegal kidney procedures along with both doctors in Lahore, Gujrat, Kharian, Mirpur (Azad Kashmir) and Islamabad,” he said.

Meanwhile, Dr Zafar Javed, anaesthetis at Mayo Hospital and also involved in illegal kidney transplantation, told FIA during interrogation that he had carried out more than 100 procedures along with the two other arrested doctors.

The FIA had caught red-handed Dr Mumtaz, Dr Kharal and two paramedical staffers during a raid at EME Society near Thokar Niaz Beg some three weeks ago while they were performing kidney transplant on two donors and as many Omani national recipients.

Published in Dawn, May 19th, 2017