Jaipur, June 15: While many were observing the World Blood Donor Day on Sunday, a group of doctors and paramedics in Karauli district shocked the state
when they were arrested on charges of forcibly extracting blood from minors after kidnapping them, all for some paltry gains.
According to police, two hospitals — Rajgirish Nursing Home and Tirupati Hospital — in Hindaun town were involved in a racket where minor students from nearby villages were kidnapped and forced to donate their blood. While the owner of one the hospitals, Dr Girish Agrawal, has been arrested, the owner of the other is absconding.
A surgeon, Dr H N Singh, and some paramedical staff of the hospitals were also arrested. Also in the net are Sultan, a compounder, Suraj, a cleaner, and a tout Rakesh Koli, who used to kidnap children and brought them to the hospital. Five others including three doctors and two lab technicians are absconding.
Two minor victims — identified as Manoj (14) and Bashruddin (13) — are currently undergoing treatment and their medical tests are being conducted under police supervision.
As per WHO norms, the minimum age for blood donation is 18 years and the donor should weigh at least 40 kg. The victims, who belong to Mahi Ibrahim village near Hindaun, are not only underage but also underweight.
The incident came to the light when the family members of the two approached Hindaun police after they complained of dizziness and narrated how they were taken to the two hospitals 15 days back and were forced to give blood.
Manoj’s father Bacchu Singh and Bashruddin’s father Fakhruddin told police that their children were kidnapped by Rakesh Koli, a resident of the same village 15 days back. Koli also took his brother and a cousin to the two hospitals, he said.
When the four victims gained consciousness in the hospital, Koli gave them some food and they were taken back home. They complained of dizziness a few days later after which the family members got hold of Koli and handed him over to the police.
“The incident may be a tip of the iceberg as the racket may have targetted many other children from nearby villages in the past,” Sarvar Khan, SP, Karauli, told TOI on Sunday.
“All the four were drugged and blood was extracted from them,” said the SP. Khan also said that the tout —Koli — was paid Rs 400 for each unit of blood.
“We are checking the records of both the hospitals. We have come to know that the blood extracted from the victims was provided to the patients in these two nursing homes. Teams have been constituted to nab other culprits,” the SP added.
—Agencies–