Maharashtra farmer’s kidney sale in Cambodia exposes suspected international organ racket
Mumbai: A 36-year-old dairy farmer from Maharashtra’s Chandrapur district allegedly sold his kidney in Cambodia after mounting debts and alleged harassment by moneylenders. His complaints has led police to uncover what they describe as a wider transnational organ trafficking network.
According to The Print, Roshan Kule is a resident of Minthur village. He approached police in December 2025, alleging that severe financial distress forced him to travel to Phnom Penh, where he underwent kidney removal surgery on October 14, 2024, at Preah Ket Mealea Hospital. He told investigators he received around ₹8 lakh for the organ.
The case was raised in the Maharashtra Assembly last week, where Chief Minister and Home Minister Devendra Fadnavis directed authorities to expedite the probe.
Superintendent of Police Mummaka Sudarshan said investigators suspect an organised racket involving agents, medical professionals and hospitals. “So far, only Kule has come forward, but we believe there are more donors facing financial distress. We are persuading others to share information,” he said.
According to Kule’s complaint, his troubles began in March 2021 when all 12 of his cows contracted lumpy skin disease. After spending about ₹40,000 on treatment, he allegedly borrowed ₹1 lakh from a local moneylender at high interest. He claimed he was later threatened and assaulted for failing to repay the amount within the stipulated time.
Kule named several lenders in his complaint, alleging that between 2021 and 2022 he paid back over ₹48.5 lakh against loans of only a few lakh rupees. He said he sold land, pledged gold and gave up a tractor but remained under pressure.
Police said Kule contacted Ramkrushna Sunchu, a Solapur resident described as an intermediary in the network, after searching online for options. Investigators alleged that another agent, Himanshu Bhardwaj of Mohali, facilitated travel arrangements. Sunchu himself had previously sold a kidney, police said.
After returning to India, Kule reportedly traveled to Vietnam for job arranged by one of the agents, when he was allegedly beaten and his passport confiscated. He requested assistance from Congress MLA Vijay Wadettiwar in July 2025 and he was certified to return to India.
Police have registered cases against six people under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita for extortion, criminal intimidation, and conspiracy, as well as parts of the Maharashtra Money Lending (Regulation) Act.
During the investigation, Bhardwaj was found to have earlier sold his kidney at Star Kims Hospital in Tamil Nadu. Authorities are probing the alleged involvement of the hospital’s managing director, Dr Rajaratnam Govindswamy, who is currently absconding after securing transit bail from the Madurai bench of the Madras High Court.
Investigators also suspect the role of Delhi-based surgeon Dr Ravinderpal Singh, who allegedly performed transplant procedures linked to the network. The matter is being heard before the Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court, which has granted Singh anticipatory bail and interim protection till March 11.
According to police, recipients were allegedly charged between ₹55 lakh and ₹60 lakh per transplant, with the money shared among doctors, agents, hospitals and donors. Sunchu and Bhardwaj are currently in custody.
The investigation is being conducted by a Special Investigation Team led by Additional SP Ishwar Katkade and further details are awaited.
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Man booked for duping Thane family of Rs 1.66 crore with ‘black magic’ claims
Thane (PTI): A family from Maharashtra's Thane district was allegedly swindled of more than Rs 1.66 crore by a man who exploited their fear of "black magic" and promised them divine remedies through elaborate rituals and pilgrimages, police said on Sunday.
The Kasarvadavali police district on April 2 registered a first information report (FIR) against Manjunath Shetty, a resident of Andheri in neighbouring Mumbai, based on the family's allegations that they were manipulated into paying the accused over a period of two years to "neutralise black magic" performed by a relative, an official said.
According to the complaint, the family's ordeal began in January 2024 when they met Shetty at an event, and on learning about their financial struggles, he convinced them that their relative had performed "black magic" on them to hinder their progress.
To counter this, Shetty prescribed a series of elaborate rituals and a mandatory pilgrimage to the 12 Jyotirlingas, temples of Lord Shiva, and by exploiting a series of minor mishaps in the family, he allegedly manipulated them into making several payments, the official said.
Between February and April 2024, he took Rs 10 lakh in cash to purchase ritual materials, and from May 2024 to January 2026, the family transferred approximately Rs 1.56 crore through online transactions to various bank accounts belonging to the accused and his mother, he said.
The accused also claimed he needed money for pending court cases, warning that if he were jailed, the rituals would remain incomplete, and that the family's situation would never improve, the official said.
While no arrest has been made as yet, the police have registered a case against Shetty under section 318(4) (cheating) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and relevant provisions of the Maharashtra Prevention and Eradication of Human Sacrifice and other Inhuman, Evil and Aghori Practices and Black Magic Act, 2013, he said.
