Kathmandu: Two men in Nepal's jails could hold the key to an old and well-networked kidney transplant racket spanning Nepal and major metros in India.

In sleepy Nakhu jail in Lalitpur district, adjoining Kathmandu, is Hari Narayan Lama, a man who could spill the beans about the doctors and medical institutions in Chennai, New Delhi and Chandigarh involved in the thriving scam.

Lama served out a three-year jail term after being convicted of duping people into "selling" their kidneys. But the punishment -- after his admission that he had sold over 50 kidneys -- was no deterrent. Lama was back in business after his release.

He was caught again in September after the police received information that two unsuspecting victims had been herded into a guesthouse in Kathmandu's Bagbazar, a downmarket commercial area, with plans of being taken to India to "donate" their kidneys.

Lama is now awaiting the verdict in his case to be delivered by Lalitpur's appellate court.

Reportedly having brokered over 75 deals with his wife, Lama's modus operandi was luring Nepalis from villages with the bait of big money in exchange for a kidney.

He has named two hospitals in Chennai, one in New Delhi and another in Lucknow, which conducted the transplants.

Also awaiting the verdict in a different case in a different jail is Dipak Poudel.

Poudel, now in Kathmandu's central jail, was arrested late last year after victims complained.

Milan Tamang, a carpet weaver in Kathmandu, was offered Nepali Rs.100,000 for his kidney and went to Chennai for the operation. The recipient was reportedly a woman residing in New Delhi.

There have also been growing tales of brokers luring Nepali villagers to India with offers of jobs but with the real intention of getting them to part with a kidney at ridiculously low rates.

Ironically, though Nepal Police busted at least two major kidney rackets late last year, in which the accused named several Indian cities and hospitals, the Indian authorities ignored the tales.

The recent exposé that Indian Amit Kumar had masterminded a large-scale kidney transplant racket from Gurgaon near New Delhi could have occurred much earlier if the Nepal scams had been taken seriously by the Indian authorities.

Source : IANS