Top administrative officials, including managing directors of several leading private hospitals in the State, have been summoned by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) as part of a probe into the alleged multi-crore organ donation racket.
Sources said the recording of statements of these officials had been under way for the past few days, including that of a managing director of a prominent Kochi hospital on Wednesday. The move comes nearly a month after the agency raided several private hospitals across Kerala on June 18, 2026. Organ transplant records, donor registries, and financial documents seized during the raids are now being cross-examined with hospital administrators.
The ED is investigating the proceeds of the crime allegedly generated by the prime accused, Mohammed Najeeb Kallatra of Kasaragod, through organ trafficking. Officials are verifying whether hospital managements and transplant coordinators colluded with the accused or whether the racket exploited systemic loopholes without their knowledge.
Under organ transplant rules, donors unrelated to recipients must be cleared by a government-authorised district authorisation committee, usually functioning under a medical college. Hospitals can proceed with transplants only after receiving the committee’s approval and supporting documents. Investigators have reportedly found that the racket forged documents such as medical certificates, letterheads, and even police no-objection certificates to fabricate a false link between donor and recipient. A source at one hospital under scrutiny admitted that such sophisticated forgeries were difficult to detect.
The ED’s action follows the Kerala Police busting an alleged organ trafficking network that facilitated transplants by exploiting the poor and financially distressed. The police suspect that at least 20 dubious transplants were done in various hospitals under the racket’s aegis, with vulnerable donors lured by money. While recipients are believed to have paid between ₹20 lakh and ₹25 lakh for a transplant, donors reportedly received only ₹5 lakh to ₹10 lakh, with middlemen pocketing the rest.
Najeeb, arrested by a Kerala Police team from Ghaziabad in Uttar Pradesh, is accused of coordinating the inter-district trafficking network and faces nearly a dozen criminal cases. His wife Rasheeda and several alleged associates have also been arrested for their roles in forgery and in identifying and recruiting donors from Ernakulam and Kollam districts.
Published – July 08, 2026 07:41 pm IST
