A special investigation team (SIT) of the Kochi Police probing the illegal harvesting of organs from people, including Malayalis, reached Tamil Nadu on Sunday after the arrest of two people.
The SIT is in Tamil Nadu to locate the agents involved in organ trafficking and their victims following a tip-off. The police launched a probe into the international organ trafficking racket after arresting one, Sabith Nasser, who is allegedly an agent of the racket. During the probe, financial deals of Sabith will examined, and identity of the people in his network will be ascertained by the team.
Sabith was arrested from Kochi International Airport last week by the Kerala Police while he was returning from Iran via Kuwait. He was arrested under section IPC 370 (human trafficking) and section 19 (commercial dealings with human organs) of the Transplantation of Human Organs Act.
Sabith lured individuals from Kerala, Bengaluru, and Hyderabad to donate their organs by offering substantial amounts of money. According to the police, he admitted to trafficking around 20 individuals to Iran as organ donors while working there.
He also claimed that the trafficking was facilitated through a man from Hyderabad. In his statement, Sabith confirmed that the victims were primarily from Hyderabad and Bengaluru, with one individual from the northern Palakkad district of Kerala.
Sabith Nasar testified that his involvement with the organ mafia began in Hyderabad, where he connected with smuggling gangs. He also informed the police that most organ traffickers involved were youths from Bengaluru and Hyderabad.
It has been reported that Sabith has crucial links with international organ trafficking networks extending to Sri Lanka, Kuwait, and Iran.
Meanwhile, the SIT has, on Thursday, taken into custody Sajith Shyam, a close aide of Sabith in connection with the case.