Hyderabad kidney racket: Key financier held; arrest made in Vizianagaram, total now 17

HYDERABAD: Telangana's Crime Investigation Department (CID) arrested one more accused in the interstate kidney-trafficking racket that was busted earlier this year at Alakananda Multi-Speciality Hospital, Kothapet. With this, the total number of arrests in the case rose to 17.The arrested was identified as Kondagorri Murali Krishna, a relative of the absconding key accused, Pavan. He was picked up from Vizianagaram in Andhra Pradesh and produced before a local magistrate in Hyderabad on Wednesday. He was remanded to judicial custody. According to sources, the accused has managed finances for the gang. According to CID officials, the gang preyed on youth from Tamil Nadu, promising jobs but instead transported them to Hyderabad for illegal kidney transplants. Investigators say each surgery earned the facilitators roughly ₹10 lakh, of which ₹4-5 lakh was handed to the coerced donor.