Kingpin of Uttarakhand kidney racket nabbed

Dehradun, September 16

The Uttarakhand Police yesterday arrested Dr Amit Raut, the alleged mastermind behind the illegal kidney transplant racket busted at Gangotri Charitable Hospital a few days ago, from Panchkula, Haryana.

In all, four persons were arrested. Raut and his brother Dr Jeevan Raut had been absconding and the Uttarakhand Police had launched a massive hunt to nab them.

In a joint operation with the Panchkula police, the Uttarakhand Police led by ASP Lokeshwar Singh nabbed Raut and his associates from outside Pallavi Hotel in Panchkula’s Sector 18.

Along with Raut, Dr Jeevan Raut, nurse Sarla and driver Pradeep were also arrested.“On interrogation, it was found that all four were planning to escape to Nepal. They have been booked under the IPC. Raut has been booked for cheating, criminal intimidation and voluntarily causing grievous injury by dangerous means. He was also booked under the Human Organ Transplant Act, 2014,” said Nivideta Kukreti, Dehradun SSP, while briefing mediapersons. The police also recovered five mobile phones, Rs 33.73 lakh cash and three cars from their possession.A degree holder in ayurveda, Raut is said to have conducted more than 50 illegal kidney retrieval operations during his three-month stay in Dehradun. Cases are still pending against him in Mumbai, Guntur and Anand.

Kukreti said the agreement of running Gangotri Charitable Hospital from Uttaranchal Dental was signed in 2016 through Ashok Jogi and Rajiv Choudhury.  — TNS