Plagued by Poverty Leads Villagers to Sell Organs in Assam, Racket Busted in Morigaon

GUWAHATI: Huge racket of illegal human organ selling has been reported in Morigaon's south Dharamtal.

Notably, due to acute poverty, the locals of this village are selling off their kidneys.

The racket came to light when some people of Dakshin Dharamtul village in Morigaon district nabbed an "agent", along with three others, and handed them over to the police. Some 30 people from the village are believed to have sold off a kidney each so far.

Taking advantage of financial difficulties, about 30 people of Morigaon went to Narayan Hriday which is in the name of Rabindranath Tagore in Kolkata, and promised a contract of Rs 5 to 6 lakh in return for illegal trading of the human kidneys.

However, the broker circle did not pay the promised amount to the people after receiving the human kidneys. "Two people, including a woman, have been arrested. The woman is in police custody," Morigaon SP Aparna Natarajan told the media.

She said the police did not have any specific information on the number of people who had sold off their kidneys. She said the police were talking to the villagers and collecting details.

The alleged agent, Lilimai Bodo from Guwahati, was nabbed when she had visited the village two days ago in search of prospective kidney sellers. On learning about her presence in the village, an aggrieved family zeroed in on her. The family had not received the promised amount from her.

The accused would lure the poor people with Rs 4-5 lakh but deduct up to Rs 1.5 lakh as commission, locals said while speaking to the media.

Meanwhile, a woman named Krishna Das had sold off a kidney to repay the bank loan. She has promised Rs 4.5 lakh by the agent but she received Rs 3.5 lakh.

"I had to sell it off to run my family. My husband has been down with illness for long and I had to repay the bank loan," the woman said.

Another villager had received Rs 3.5 lakh although he was promised Rs 5 lakh. "I sold off a kidney for my son's treatment. I had no other option," said the victim.

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