THANE: A 25-year-old man, instrumental in exposing the kidney racket busted by Powai police at Hiranandani Hospital in 2016, was found hanging from the ceiling fan at his home in Diva on Tuesday evening.Sundar Balvant Singh’s body was highly decomposed, suggesting he had died a few days ago. Neighbours had complained about a foul smell emitting from his flat in Om Sai Apartments at Diva Agasan Road.Singh had sold his kidney to a Delhi patient through a middleman on the promise that he would get Rs 5 lakh, but never got any money, leading him to gather papers that led to the expose.Thane police said they were not sure if he committed suicide but the door was latched from inside and there was no sign of forced entry. They added that the body was so highly decomposed that he must have died three to four days back. “The suspected reason could be family issues, but a thorough investigation is needed,’’ said a senior official.Singh had previously claimed to have received death threats and had gone into hiding for a while.Indian National Trade Union Congress president Suresh Gupta, who had helped Singh lodge a police complaint in 2016, rubbished claims of a suicide. “I doubt he committed suicide as he was a strong man and was standing against mighty people,’’ Gupta said, demanding a detailed probe to ascertain if it was a murder or suicide.Gupta added that Singh feared for his life and had sought protection from Powai police in 2016. “No complaint was registered even though he was the star witness in the Hiranandani kidney racket case,’’ Gupta said, but a Powai police officer said the whistle-blower had not approached them in August 2016 with any complaint.Sukhada Narkar, public relations officer of Thane police, said Singh had been living in the locality for 18 months and was running a pav bhaji stall.Primary investigations revealed that he had quarrelled with his wife and the last time was on January 1. On January 3, police said, his wife left him and went to her hometown in Uttar Pradesh after borrowing Rs1,000 from one of their acquaintances.On July 14, 2016, Powai police stopped a transplant operation midway at Hiranandani after learning that the recipient, Surat businessman Brijkishore Jaiswal, had submitted false papers claiming that the donor, Shobhana Thakur, was his wife. The tribal woman had been promised Rs 2 lakh for her kidney. Fourteen persons, including five doctors from Hiranandani, were arrested.Police had filed a 1,000-page chargesheet in October 2016 even as Jaiswal died a few months later. The hospital has yet to get back its licence for transplants.

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