ED Investigates Kerala Hospital Chiefs in Organ Trade Scandal
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has summoned top administrative officials, including managing directors, of several leading private hospitals in Kerala as part of its probe into an alleged multi-crore organ donation racket. Sources confirm that recording of statements has been underway for the past few days, with a managing director of a prominent Kochi hospital questioned on Wednesday.
The action follows a series of raids conducted by the ED on June 18, 2026, across multiple private hospitals in the state. During these raids, investigators seized organ transplant records, donor registries, and financial documents, which are now being cross-examined with hospital administrators to determine the extent of their involvement or negligence.
The ED is investigating proceeds of crime allegedly generated by the prime accused, Mohammed Najeeb Kallatra of Kasaragod, through organ trafficking. Officials are verifying whether hospital managements and transplant coordinators colluded with the accused or whether the racket exploited systemic loopholes without their knowledge.
Under current organ transplant rules in India, donors unrelated to recipients must be cleared by a government-authorised district authorisation committee, typically functioning under a medical college. Hospitals can proceed only after receiving the committee's approval and supporting documents. Investigators have reportedly found that the racket forged documents such as medical certificates, letterheads, and police no-objection certificates to fabricate a false link between donor and recipient. A source at one hospital under scrutiny admitted that such sophisticated forgeries were difficult to detect.
The ED’s probe follows the Kerala Police busting an alleged organ trafficking network that facilitated transplants by exploiting the poor and financially distressed. Police suspect that at least 20 dubious transplants were performed in various hospitals under the racket’s aegis, with vulnerable donors lured by money. While recipients are believed to have paid between ₹20 lakh and ₹25 lakh for a transplant, donors reportedly received only ₹5 lakh to ₹10 lakh, with middlemen pocketing the rest.
Najeeb, arrested by a Kerala Police team from Ghaziabad in Uttar Pradesh, is accused of coordinating the inter-district trafficking network and faces nearly a dozen criminal cases. His wife Rasheeda and several alleged associates have also been arrested for their roles in forgery and in identifying and recruiting donors from Ernakulam and Kollam districts.
