Mid-Day Investigation: Dark web in your pocket is eyeing your kidney

Screenshots of a conversation in a Telegram group where agents and donors interact; A 28-year-old cash-strapped donor from Madhya Pradesh, who was cheated by the racketeers

Soon after Delhi police's crackdown on a real-world network of kidney racketeers in July, readers alerted mid-day to the racket seeming to have moved online, in particular the messaging app, Telegram, often dubbed a mobile Dark Web. The online marketplace now easily facilitates the illegal buying and selling of kidneys. mid-day reporters, posing as desperate kidney donors, entered the murky world, and were instantly approached by agents offering between Rs 5 lakh and Rs 6 lakh for their organs, which are then sold for more than Rs 35 lakh.

According to the Transplantation of Human Organs and Tissues Act, 1994, only immediate relatives and those close to patients are permitted to donate organs.
The mid-day investigation revealed that the racketeers first gather documents from potential donors and compare them with patients' details. Once the last name and blood type match, they arrange for flight tickets to Kolkata and provide fully paid accommodation.

Screenshots of a conversation in a Telegram group where agents and donors interact

Well-oiled machine

Following recent real-world crackdowns on this network of organ mafia, they have migrated to Telegram and Facebook, where agents frequently share the blood types of recipients urgently in need of transplants. The well-organised network of interstate kidney traffickers preys on desperate individuals, luring poverty-stricken illegal donors with the promise of substantial cash for their kidneys.

Once a person agrees to sell a kidney, agents for the organ traders collect vital documents, including Aadhaar and PAN cards.

The racketeers, apparently colluding with medical staff and government officials at both the central and state levels, manipulate the donor's documents to facilitate kidney donations. Their operations are so seamless that they can easily alter identities, birth dates and domiciles of illegal donors, allowing them to evade detection.

mid-day has records of a few illegal donors who have been struggling to restore their original identities but can't approach government offices, fearing stringent legal action.

The racketeers, acting as middlemen between illegal donors and recipients, claim to offer between Rs 4 lakh to Rs 30 lakh for kidney donations. However, many donors have accused these middlemen of failing to honour their promises. Often, donors have even had to pay out of pocket for post-surgery
medical treatment.

How trap is set

Sources told mid-day that these racketeers keep an eye on prominent dialysis centres in different cities. Here, the agents persuade relatives of patients to pay around Rs 35 lakh to Rs 40 lakh for a kidney transplant, depending on negotiations.

Agents are in constant touch with each other and after learning of the renal needs of recipients, they post the blood groups to alert illegal donors on Telegram and Facebook.

Impoverished kidney donors, in the hope of earning a few lakhs, agree to meet agents, oblivious to the misery that follows.

TOMORROW: Organ lost, life lost, identity lost

Rs 30 l
The maximum amount agents claim to offer donors

1. ‘Donate karne me koi lafda toh nahin hoga?'

After undercover reporters posed as donors in dire need of cash, agents insisted they submit vital documents, including their Aadhaar and PAN cards.
An agent, who went by the name Dr Abhay Kumar (Agent 1), offered to pay us R30 lakh.
Agent 1: Kya demand hai?
Reporter: Kitna milega, bhai? Aapko donor chahiye?
Agent 1: Yes, donor... Rs 30 lakh
Reporter: Which city?
Agent 1: Delhi.
Reporter: Kitna din lagega?
Agent 1: 25 din. Family permission hai?
Reporter: Yes... Kahan [rukenge Delhi mein]?
Agent 1: Wo hum arrangement kar denge.
Reporter: Batao kab jana hai?
Agent 1: Fees pay karni padegi.
Reporter: Aapko donor chahiye? Mujhe kitna paisa milega?
Agent 1: Jo bola hai aapko milega.
Reporter: Kab jana hai bolo?
Agent 1: Aadhaar card, PAN card bhejo... 8171596055, iss number pe
Reporter: Kahan jana hoga Delhi mein?
Agent 1: Main bata dunga.
Reporter: Bhai donate karne me koi lafda toh nahin hoga?
Agent 1: Kuch nahin hoga.
Reporter: Documents raise bang donor ka?
Agent 1: Wo sham ko call kar lena, tab bata dunga.

2. ‘Final price is Rs 7 lakh'

Another individual Satish Chandra (Agent 2) on the Telegram group
‘Kidney Donor' began chatting with the reporter after he had posted
his blood group, O+
Agent 2: Hi, we need O+ with an Indian passport only.
Reporter: Ok, where to go? Which country?
Agent 2: Where are you from?
Reporter: Mumbai. How much money?
Agent 2: Depends on the patient... O+, R6 lakh.
Reporter: For a kidney?
Agent 2: Yes.
Reporter: Which country?
Agent 2: Country depends on patient.
Reporter: What about expenses like travel, lodging and food in a foreign country? Are these expenses included in the R6 lakh? And what about cost of
medical treatment after donating the kidney? Who will bear it?
Agent 2: No, not included.
Reporter: ok... but the amount is very low.
Agent 2: The last amount is R7 lakh. So, tell me.
Reporter: Ok. Where and when to go?
Agent 2: Depends on patient country.
Reporter: OK.
Agent 2: Your age?
Reporter: I'm in my thirties.
Agent 2: Ok, passport?
Reporter: Yes.
Agent 2: Are you ready for R7 lakh?
Reporter: Very low.
Agent 2: OK.

According to sources, racketeers keep an eye on prominent dialysis centres in various cities. File pic

3. ‘Main bhi ek donor hoon, bhai'

Following the reporter's cold shoulder, an account named ‘Alpi'(Agent 3) slid into our personal chat.
Agent 3: Kaam ho gaya aapka?
Reporter: Nahin, aap kaun?
Agent 3: Kahan se hai aap? Kon sa [blood] group hai aapka? Ek O+ve chahiye ... R5 lakh. Fifteen days.
Reporter: I'm from Mumbai, O+ ve, where to go? Which city?
Agent 3: Chennai. Aapka number, ID aur full photo, agar karna hai toh.
Reporter: Paisa bahut kam hai.
Agent 3: Main bhi ek donor hoon, bhai. Mera OT [operation theatre ie surgery] hai next week, mere ko bola toh bata diya. Five se jyada kahin nahin milega aapko. Chaar saal se ghum raha hoon main. Last mein R5 lakh me maan gaya, koi raasta nahin. Theek hai, agar aap nahin kar rahe toh koi aur dhoond ke deta hoon.
Reporter: Aap kahan se ho?
Agent 3: Mai Assam se hoon
Reporter: Paisa dega na? Aapko dhundhne ke liye kuch paisa deta hai kya?
Agent 3: Haan. R10,000.
Reporter: [Apka] Kahan hai surgery?
Agent 3: Mera Kolkata mein hai, bhai.
Reporter: Mera bhi karva do.
Agent 3: Wohi toh bol raha hoon. O+ve chahiye, 15 din me kaam complete, R5 lakh. Or, patient party accha mila to woh extra dega. Koi, koi pura life ka risk le leta hai. Luck pe depend karta hai. Karega toh bolo batata hu, wo baar baar puch raha hai.
Reporter: Haan bhai karna hai. Surgery kahan hoga?
Agent 3: Chennai mein. Aap apna [contact] number de dijiye, mai unko de dega.
Reporter: Ok, bhejo, bhai, number.
Agent 3: 9390134785
Reporter: Ye kiska number hai?
Agent 3: Agent ka. WhatsApp kijiye aap. Bolna Moni ne number diya hai. Baat kijiye aap.
Reporter: Apka naam Moni hai?
Agent 3: Yes, message
karo WhatsApp mein, baat karo.

A WhatsApp conversation between an undercover reporter and an agent who offered R5 lakh for the former's kidney

4. ‘Bina Aadhaar kaise bulaun aapko?'

We did not even have to contact Moni. In a short while, the reporter received a WhatsApp call from 9390134785 from someone who identified himself as Manoj (Agent 4) who was convinced by the reporter citing network congestion to indulge in chatting:
Agent 4: Hi, aapka number Moni ne diya hai. Aap Danish ho, na?
Myself Manoj.
Reporter: Ok
Agent 4: O+ve hai na aapka?
Reporter: Ji bhai.
Agent 4: Amount R5 lakh milega, kaam Chennai me hoga. Kaam 15 days mein complete hoga. Ticket main de dunga. Yahan aane ke baad hotel mein stay karoge pehle, sara test hoga, uske baad hi OT [operation theatre ie surgery] hoga. OT se pehle hotel mein rahoge, OT hone ke baad aap ek week hospital mein rahoge. Hospital safety purpose ke liye kissi ko batate nahin hain. Agar aap interested ho toh mujhe abhi bata do, mujhe kal bulana hai urgent.
Reporter: Yes, yes, I'm interested bhai. Ticket bhejo.
Agent 4: Apni ID and photo bhejo
Reporter: Ticket bhejo na, ID wahi de dunga Chennai mein.
Agent 4: Bina Aadhaar and pic dekhe kaise bulaun aapko? Agar aap interested nahin ho toh koi problem nahin hai mujhe. Meri kisi aur se baat chal rahi hai, aap rehne do bhai, mujhe dusra mil gaya hai.