23-year-old, who brought the racket out in the open, has been forced to go into hiding himself, after receiving multiple death threats. Cops have allegedly refused to grant him protection. Read why
The 23-year-old whistleblower who brought the kidney racket out in the open has now been forced to go into hiding himself, after receiving multiple death threats. Even though he is the star witness in the investigation, the police have allegedly refused to grant him protection until the chargesheet is ready.
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Sundar Singh Jadhav, who blew the lid off the racket after he was cheated out of one of his kidneys. Pics/Datta Kumbhar
“But what will happen if anything happens to me before that? If I die, I don’t know who will take care of my family. Now that I am a witness, shouldn’t they give me protection from these criminals?” asked Sundar Singh Jadhav, who blew the lid off the racket after he was cheated out of one of his kidneys.
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Sundar Singh had decided to donate his kidney. He was assured that he would make lakhs and that the kidney would grow back
His information has put several people behind bars, but now he is getting threat calls from their aides. “Every 2-3 days, I get threats from the criminals involved in the racket. Once, when I was in Dombivli, they even got inside my room and started threatening me, saying that I would have to pay with my life,” said Jadhav.
“Since then, I have been moving from one hideout to another, to save my life. I feel scared to even step out of the house. But I am glad I exposed the scam; now other poor people like me won’t be cheated,” he said.
Jadhav hails from Uttar Pradesh and was still a teenager when he moved to Mumbai in 2008 to be able to support his family. After two years of struggle, he finally found a job at a factory with Abid Sheikh and Bharat Sharma — two men who changed his life forever. Under their influence, he decided to donate his kidney to pay off his rising debts. The job didn’t pay enough to support his family of nine, in which he is the sole breadwinner. Both his brothers are mentally challenged, so he also sends money for their treatment.
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Jadhav was promised that his loan of Rs 7 lakh would be waived off and that his house would also be repaired with the remaining money. The transplant was carried out on March 17, and he was discharged from hospital on March 22.
“For two-three years, they went on emotionally blackmailing me. In fact, they also went to my hometown to convince me for the transplant. Then, after the doctors promised me that my kidney would grow back after the transplant, I decided to donate it. But these were all false promises. Later, when I saw that more people are falling prey to them, I exposed the racket,” he said.
“They had also promised me a job in the hospital after the transplant. But I have been jobless for almost two months. I haven’t even sent any money home and now I am hiding to save my life. I haven’t even told my family that I donated my kidney,” he added.
Suresh Gupta, president of Indian National Trade Union Congress, who helped him to file the police complaint, said, “His parents are above 65 years old and his brothers are also mentally challenged. If anything happens to him, there will be no one to take care of them. Plus, he is the main witness who knows about all the involvement of the doctors in the racket. So, it is the duty of the police to provide him protection until the case is over.”