The main leader of a gang involved in the organized trafficking of kidneys from Nepal to Delhi, India, has been arrested. The arrested individual is 38-year-old Shyam Krishna Bhandari from Sunkoshi Rural Municipality–7, Sindhupalchok. According to the Human Trafficking Investigation Bureau of Nepal Police, his group had sold the kidneys of more than a hundred Nepalis in various cities of India. The Bureau’s team arrested Bhandari in Delhi, India, and brought him back to Nepal. Along with him, 29-year-old Sujan Bharti of Indrawati Rural Municipality–2, Sindhupalchok, was also arrested. He is regarded as the second-in-command of the gang after Bhandari. Earlier, on 19th of Shrawan, 35-year-old Rajkumar Pariyar, from Panchkhal Municipality–10 of Kavre, 24-year-old Sameer Nepali from Belkotgadhi Municipality–9 of Nuwakot, and 47-year-old Rakesh Nepali from ward no. 4 of the same municipality, were also arrested as members of Bhandari’s group.
Bureau Chief SSP Krishna Pangeni stated that Bhandari had been living in New Delhi, India, for the past seven years, selling the kidneys of Nepali citizens. According to him, Bhandari admitted in his police statement that he had sold the kidneys of more than 25 Nepalis. According to the police, Bhandari had obtained an Indian Aadhaar card from Delhi specifically for the kidney trade. He is also a wanted fugitive of the Indian police. Indian police are conducting an investigation against him.
According to the police, Bhandari used to lure financially weak individuals to India with the promise of attractive jobs. He would keep them in a hotel for about a month, treating them well. During that time, he persuaded them to sell a kidney. At first, he offered them 6 lakhs rupees per kidney. If they refused, he threatened to kill them. Once they agreed, he blindfolded the victims, put them in a taxi, drove them around the city, and then took them to a hospital. There, they were injected and made unconscious, and their kidneys were removed. They were kept in the hospital for five days. After the wounds healed, the victims were again blindfolded, driven around the city, and finally dropped back at the hotel.
