Police arrested three men from Bohuchi village under Kalai upazila of Joypurhat on Sunday night for their alleged involvement in kidney trade.
The arrestees are Md Abdus Sattar, 40, Golam Mostafa, 28, and Abdul Karim, 32, of the same village.
Acting on information, a team led by the officer-in-charge of Kalai Police Station raided two houses at the village disguising themselves as donors and arrested them.
Law enforcers produced the arrestees and kidney seller Aynul Haq of Roboi village before the newsmen at the office of Joypurhat superintendent of police yesterday afternoon.
Aynul said he sold off one of his kidneys for Tk 1.7 lakh to pay off his loan, which he took out from an NGO about one and a half years ago.
Forty-two people of Kalai upazila between the ages of 28 to 35 have sold off their kidneys through organ-trafficking networks as they are little concerned about the risk involved in donating a kidney, said Md Mozammel Haque, SP of Joypurhat.
Sattar exploited villagers to sell their kidneys on assurances that there would be no significant health risks, mentioned the SP adding, they are victims of a major organ-trafficking racket based in the area.
Grave poverty in the area has driven them to sell their kidneys, observed Mozammel.
The broker helped housewife Selina Aktar, 25, her husband Meherul, 28, and two others of her family of Bherendi village to sell their kidneys. But they were paid less than the negotiated amount of Tk 2 lakh each.
Meherul’s father Jane Alam sold his kidney for Tk 1.8 lakh about two years ago.
It was the burden of credit that forced Afzal Hossain sell one of his kidneys.
Some kidney sellers said brokers took them to three hospitals in the capital to remove their kidneys.
Experts said the sellers may have increased complications owing to poor infection control and lower medical and surgical standards.
Civil Surgeon of Joypurhat Dr Mozammel Haque said he was unaware about the trafficking ring.
Kalai police recorded a case in this regard yesterday afternoon accusing the three.
-With The Daily Star input
