INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Kathmandu, October 16
Police today arrested five persons, including CEO of Pulchowk-based Nidan Hospital Bipendra Pradhan, on the charge of
illegally transplanting kidney to a kidney patient.
Others arrested are hospital Legal Officer Kumud Kumar Bhattarai, general physician of
the hospital Rajesh Panta, Section Officer of Lalitpur District Office Ram Chandra Ale and kidney recipient Shankar Lal Lama.
Except for the
kidney recipient, all others arrested were members of the Kidney Transplantation Approval Committee formed by the hospital.
According to
Deputy Superintendent of Police Raj Kumar Silwal, who led the investigation, Shankar Lal Lama, 56, of Doramba, Ramechhap, was supposed to
receive a kidney from his nephew, Sanjeev Ghising, but on August 8, the day the transplantation was to take place, the family of the patient
produced a different man with forged documents claiming that he was Ghising
The man had his photo pasted on the kidney transplantation document issued for Sanjeev Ghising.
Police said the hospital knowingly indulged
in illegal kidney transplantation.
Hospital Kidney Transplantation Approval Committee had authorised Ghising to donate his kidney as he was
the patient nephew.
As per the human organ transplantation law, patients can receive kidney from their close relatives
However, in case they cannot do so for some reason, they can get the kidney from unrelated persons only after consent of immediate family
members of both the parties and without any monetary transaction between the donor and the recipient.
The committee had registered Ghising
name in their record and handed over a separate unique identity card with his photo to be presented at the hospital during transplantation
process.
But, in a dramatic twist, a third person, with the same unique identity card, reached the hospital on the day Lama was to undergo
The card, which was issued to Ghising, had the photo of the third person
Police said the photo on the card was forged.
According to DSP Silwal, a nurse of the hospital (whose identity has been concealed) had
reported the incident to the hospital management the same day following which the hospital called the meeting of the Transplantation
Approval Committee to discuss the matter
But the committee ruled out the nurse claim, saying it was the same person and she might have got confused because the donor had lost some
weight.
He added that even a lay person could verify that the photo on the document issued to Ghising did not match with the person who
claimed he was Ghising.
Following the controversy, the Anti-human Trafficking Bureau of Nepal Police raided the hospital and confiscated all
the related documents from the hospital
Initially the police did not have information about the donor, but after sometime they came to know where he was residing.
&We found the
37-year-old donor, who hails from Kavre district, living in abject poverty inside a dingy room in Bhaktapur,& DSP Silwal said
The donor, who was rescued by police, filed an FIR against the five persons, accusing them of luring him to sell his kidney for Rs 3
lakh.
Police said they were still investigating whether hospital management was also involved in the illegal kidney transplantation or only
members of the Transplantation Approval Committee were running the racket.
The kidney transplant was conducted by transplant surgeon Dr
Pukar Shrestha.
Kidney recipient and the donor are in good health, according to police
Hospital management could not be contacted for comments.
Illegal transplantation of kidney carries a jail sentence up to five years.
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