FIA busts illegal kidney transplant network

PESHAWAR: The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has unearthed an illegal kidney transplant network and arrested one of its key members, an official said on Wednesday.

“The FIA Anti-Corruption Wing, Peshawar Zone, has unearthed an inter-provincial network involved in illegal human organ transplant. The group comprises of government hospital officials, senior doctors and illegal donors,” Mian Saeed Ahmad, Additional Director, FIA, KP told The News.

He added the network was unearthed when the FIA Anti-Corruption Wing was carrying out an inquiry on the complaint of one Fazal Qadir, a retired officer from Mardan who had employed the services of one Shoaib Afridi (a dialysis technician at Khyber Teaching Hospital Peshawar).

The officials said the technician was paid a hefty amount of Rs 3.1 million to arrange for donor, surgeon and other facilities.

Officials said Afridi was trapped and engaged by the FIA who was later arrested.

“On initial investigation, Afridi revealed that many senior surgeons are involved in this network that includes officials from other provinces as well. He further revealed that he worked as middle-man to arrange donors who are mostly needy and engage surgeons who were paid hefty amounts,” an FIA official said.

The accused has been booked and arrested by FIA Anti-Corruption Wing KP under sections 11/12/13 of Illegal Human Organ Transplant Act (HOTA 2010) read with 5 (2) Prevention of Corruption Act. The official said that further investigation on the directions of Director FIA KP Zone Akhtar Hayat were being carried out and hoped that would help them arrest and dismantle the network by exposing all those senior surgeons and government officials who were involved in the practice.