DEHRADUN: The Uttarakhand chapter of the Indian Medical Association (IMA) has sought a CBI enquiry into the inter-state kidney racket with international links which was busted at a charitable hospital in Dehradun.In a letter to the state government, signed by honorary state secretary D D Choudhury, the association wrote: “IMA Uttaranchal state branch has taken serious cognizance of the heinous crime purported by some black sheep in the profession. Image of doctors could not be allowed to be maligned by such criminals. We urge Govt. of Uttarakhand to seek CBI inquiry into blatantly unethical criminal activity done in the holy land of Uttarakhand (sic).”The racket in which kidneys were being illegally removed from people belonging to different states of the country and transplanted on patients including foreigners, was operating from Gangotri Charitable Hospital. The hospital is a branch of the Uttaranchal Dental and Medical Research Institute located in Doiwala.Dehradun police had issued a look out circular on Tuesday against seven people, including four from Oman, who had allegedly visited the Gangotri Charitable Hospital for kidney transplant. The circular was also issued against two doctors, Amit Sharma and Akshay Kumar, from the hospital and another person named Rajiv Chaudhary. Police had said that the role of the health department would also be probed.According to doctors in the state, only two hospitals - Sri Mahant Indresh Hospital and Himalayan Institute Trust Hospital - have the permission to conduct kidney transplant.The doctors said that it is due to porous borders and lack of vigilance that the state has become a safe haven for illegal medical activities.Secretary of IMA Uttaranchal, Chaudhary, said, “There is no system to track fraud medical practitioners. Quacks have opened clinics in Rajpur Road, Ballupur and Chakrata Road. The state requires a very strong vigilance system to put an end to such activities.”Dr Bhim S Pandhi, patron and state coordinator, IMA Uttaranchal, told TOI, “According to a recent assessment by a Nepal-based social organisation, up to 60 Nepalese are trafficked every month to India through the border. These people are used for illegal trade of body organs or human trafficking.”

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