DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PUNE, VADODARA JOURNALISM OF COURAGE MONDAY, OCTOBER 14, 2024, AHMEDABAD, LATE CITY, 14 PAGES INSIDE PRESIDENT’S RULE REVOKED IN JAMMU & KASHMIR PAGE 8 100 YEARS OF LEGACY OF ‘KUMAR’ PAGE 4 Set up panel to probe campus ‘suicide’: IIM-A students’ body AN EXPRESS INVESTIGATION – PART 1 From Dhaka to Delhi, how kidney racket grew on fake family trees, fudged papers and a ghost lab 20-25 transplants by one surgeon at two Noida hospitals under lens, police look at more cases, middlemen say they verified documents themselves RIGOROUS PROCESS OF VERIFICATION, SAYS YATHARTH RITU SHARMA AHMEDABAD, OCTOBER 13 WEEKS AFTER a final-year student died allegedly by suicide in his hostel room at the Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Ahmedabad, the institute’s students’ council has demanded setting up of a committee to probe into the circumstances surrounding the death. In an email to institute DirectorBharatBhasker,theIIMA Students’ Affairs Council has raised “grave concerns” over the death of Akshith Bhukya, 24, from Warangal in Telangana, on September 26. “The steps taken bytheinstitutetodatehavefailed to inspire confidence among the student body,” the email said. The communication, signed byAtmanSoni,generalsecretary of the 60th Students’ Affairs Council,demandedtheconstitution of a high-powered committee to inquire into the circumstances surrounding Bhukya’s death, along with “providing institutionalsupporttostudentsto ensurethattheongoingpoliceinvestigationisconductedinafree, fair, and transparent manner”. Bhukya’s body was found in hishostelroomonthenewcampus on the eve of The Red Bricks Summit (TRBS), the institute’s annual management symposium. Bhukya was the head of the coordination committee for TRBS,whichwaseventuallycancelled after his death. Stating that the students’ body presented “pertinent facts to the faculty regarding the circumstances leading to this incident” on September 29, the mail levelled allegations against an administrative officer in handling matters related to TRBS. “The student community is deeply troubled by the circumstances surrounding this incident, as well as the institution’s CONTINUEDONPAGE2 BUSINESS AS USUAL BY UNNY Photographs: Gajendra Yadav Case records show Dr Vijaya Rajakumari conducted a total of 61 kidney transplant surgeries for Bangladeshi patients between August 7, 2022 and May 13, 2024 at Yatharth Hospital, Noida; and 66 such surgeries between January 1, 2018 and March 31, 2023 at Apollo Hospital, Noida. KAUNAIN SHERIFF M & MAHENDER SINGH MANRAL NEW DELHI, OCTOBER 13 FAKE FAMILY trees, forged documents, a diagnostic lab that existed only on paper, fabricated seals, a plastic box labelled “premium dates” but full of red “official” stickers — and a 10-member syndicate that revolved around a Delhi surgeon. These are among the main props and players behind an international kidney transplant racket that was allegedly being runbytheaccusedwhohadlinks to two well-known hospitals in the National Capital Region, exploiting loopholes in the system `5.00 ● WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM SINCE 1932 and even bypassing screening at thediplomaticlevel,accordingto an investigation of case records by The Indian Express. These include copious interrogation reports to international approval forms and call records —andlaybaretheracketthatled to the arrest of 10 accused, including the 50-year-old surgeon who allegedly conducted around 20-25 transplants for Bangladeshi patients at the Apollo and Yatharth hospitals in Noida over the past three years that are under probe. TOMORROW A KEY ACCUSED AND HIS DAMNING LINKS The police have also sought details of over 125-130 other transplants conducted on Bangladeshi patients at these two hospitals from 2018 to 2024 — an analysis of case records show all of them were allegedly conducted by the accused surgeon, Dr Vijaya Rajakumari who was arrested on July 1, and is now on bail. She denied all the allegations in court. Among those arrested were also two Bangladeshi nationals, includingatranslatorworkingin India’s medical tourism sector. The racket was busted by Delhi Police following an investigation triggered by an alert from the Union Health Ministry in April this year warning of a CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 THE CASE has focused on 20-25 kidney transplants conducted at Yatharth Hospital and Apollo Hospital — both in Noida. Responding to queries in this regard, a spokesperson for Yatharth said: “Regarding the recent case, we want to clarify that all cases, including those from visiting consultants, undergo our rigorous multi-layered verification process. We have taken proactive steps to further strengthen our processes. It is crucial to emphasize that Yatharth Hospital has always adhered to all legal and ethical guidelines for transplant procedures. We have fully cooperated with the authorities in their investigation. We remain committed to serving our community with integrity and compassion, striving to uphold the trust placed in us by our patients and their families.” Apollo Hospital did not respond to a detailed questionnaire on the case from The Indian Express. DAY AFTER BABA SIDDIQUE KILLING Probe points to role of Bishnoi gang, likely contract killing: Police 1 more held from Pune; police send teams to Delhi, Ujjain, Haryana SAGAR RAJPUT & MOHAMED THAVER MUMBAI, OCTOBER 13 CITING INITIAL investigations, Mumbai Police sources said on Sunday that prima facie, the Lawrence Bishnoi gang was suspectedtobebehindthekillingof three-time former MLA Baba Siddique (66), who was gunned down — allegedly by three men — on Saturday night. Police identified a Bishnoi gangmember,ShubhamLonkar, who put out a social media post claiming responsibility for the killing, as a key conspirator and said he had “recruited” two of the three shooters who worked in a Pune scrapyard. Police sources also said the three suspected shooters had met a Bishnoi gang member in a Haryana jail earlier, and had been given a contract to kill Siddique for `2.5-3 lakh. While two of the three suspectedshooters—GurmailSingh from Haryana and Dharmaraj CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 RELATED REPORT PAGE 8 complications from a gallbladder surgery at Nizam’s Institute of Medical Sciences in Hyderabad. The family said Saibaba’s body would be donatedtoGandhiMedicalCollege in Telangana on Monday. Aformerprofessorof English at Delhi University’s Ram Lal NEW DELHI, OCTOBER 13 “THERE IS no Vasantha without Sai,” says Vasantha, her voice steady through the grief, hours after the death of her husband G N Saibaba, a former Assistant ProfessoratDelhiUniversityand a human rights advocate. Saibaba,57,diedlateOctober 12 following post-operative Vasantha and G N Saibaba at their residence in Delhi in April. Abhinav Saha/file Suspects from Haryana, Punjab and UP, two with criminal records SUKHBIR SIWACH, MANISH SAHU & ANJU AGNIHOTRI CHABA KAITHAL, LUCKNOW, JALANDHAR, OCTOBER 13 OF THE three suspected shooters, two — Dharmaraj Kashyap who has been arrested and Shivkumar Gautam who is on the run — were from the same village in Bahraich district of Uttar Pradesh and had no criminalhistory,policesaid.Thethird, Gurmail Singh, from Kaithal district of Haryana, was arrested in DIVYA A NEW DELHI, OCTOBER 13 IN A first, the government has undertaken a comprehensive scientific study using ancient and modern genomics to “conclusively” find the population history of South Asia, amid conflicting theories about the origin of ancient Indian communities. Thestudyisbeingundertaken CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 HIS DECADE-LONG TRIALS EXPLAINED, P 10 Mega drug haul to tune of Rs 5K cr in Gujarat PRAGYNESH & ARNABJIT SUR NEW DELHI, SURAT OCTOBER 13 THE DELHI Police Special Cell, along with the Bharuch police, claimedtohaverecovered518kg of cocaine worth Rs 5,000 crore during a raid conducted at a firm in Gujarat’s Ankleshwar GIDC Sunday evening, officers said. Police claimed this is part of the consignmentallegedlysmuggled intothecountrybyaDubai-based cartel which was recently busted inDelhi.TheDelhiPoliceissueda lookout notice (LoC) against the alleged mastermind, Virendra Baisoya, who is based in Dubai. Sources claimed the cocaine was recovered during a search at people associated with the company have been detained, said sources. A top officer in the CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Haryana resident Gurmail Singh, one of the alleged shooters a murder case in 2019. Police on Sunday named a fourth suspect, Mohammad Zeeshan Akhtar (22), alias Mohammad Yaseen Akhtar, a resident of Nokodar in Punjab’s Jalandhardistrict,whoalsohasa criminal record and is suspected CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Govt begins study to find roots of ancient Indian communities Saibaba’s family remembers lost years: ‘Didn’t have enough of him’ VIDHEESHA KUNTAMALLA & UMA VISHNU Ajit Pawar at Baba Siddique’s funeral, conducted with full state honours, in Mumbai on Sunday. Ganesh Shirshekar through the Anthropological Survey of India (AnSI), which functions under the aegis of the Ministry of Culture. Titled “Reconstruction of the population history of South Asia using ancient and modern genomics”, the project will study 300 ancient skeletal remains – largely cranial and other bone from different archaeological sites in India and Pakistan. CONTINUEDONPAGE2 ‘Chhattisgarh will eliminate Naxalism by 2026... Earlier, Naxals would say this is our govt’ VISHNU DEO SAI, FEAT OF ARMS A SpaceX rocket booster returns to its launch pad in Texas after a test on Sunday. The pad’s mechanical arms caught the booster in an engineering feat described by CEO Elon Musk as ‘science fiction without the fiction part’. AP REPORT,P 11 CHHATTISGARH CHIEF MINISTER PAGE 9 In India’s last ‘sati’ village, chorus for temple trumps fear of police action PAGE 1 ANCHOR HAMZA KHAN DIVRALA (SIKAR), OCTOBER 13 ALMOST FOUR decades ago, when water was plentiful and mostfamiliesstilllivedinDivrala villageofRajasthan’sSikardistrict, Shekhawat Sadan, in the heart of the village, had a full house. The families of brothers Sumer, Mangesh, Simpu and Gajraj shared the house, now paintedinshadesofblueandyellow.Onebyone,thebrothersdied —Sumerbeingthelast,sometime in 2020 — and their families — save for Sumer’s son Bhupendra — moved out. The grand door to the house mostly remains padlocked now, while the residence is under the care of Bhupendra, who suffered a stroke. In 1987, Shekhawat Sadan was at the heart of an event that shookthenation:OnSeptember 4, 18-year-old Roop Kanwar allegedly sat on her husband Maal Singh’s funeral pyre and committed “sati”. While the family claimed her act was voluntary, activists have maintained that she was forced to do so. Besides forcing the ouster of Chief Minister Hari Dev Joshi of the Congress, Roop’s death led to theenactmentoftheCommission of Sati (Prevention) Act, 1987. Last week, in one of the last remaining cases lodged in connection with the incident, a special Sati Nivaran Court in Jaipur acquitted eight persons accused of glorifying the act. Although severalcaseswerefiledandhundreds were named as accused, activists say not a single person has been convicted till date. AsBhupendraopensthemain doorofShekhawatSadan,hesays it’smostlywomenwho“pray”to Roop. “There are a few every day. On gyaras (her death anniver- The spot in Sikar’s Divrala village where 18-year-old Roop Kanwar is said to have committed ‘sati’ in 1987. Hamza Khan sary), there are thousands,” he says, straining to speak. Roop, the youngest of six siblings, was married to Sumer’s son Maal Singh in January 1987, but he passed away from an illness in a Sikar hospital eight months later. After Maal Singh’s death, Bhupendra’s other brother, Pushpendra, died in an accident.TheirsisterManjulives in Jodhpur with her family. At Shekhawat Sadan, Roop’s room is visibly better maintained than the rest of the house, which is marked by blackening walls and climbing moss. Now a shrine, Roop’s room is the first on the right. Inside, on her cot, sharing space with garlanded images of Lord Ram, Sita, Hanuman and Saraswati, is a wedding photo of RoopandMaalSingh.Theshelves onthewallsaroundthebedhave more images, including a depiction of Roop on a funeral pyre. Overlookingthebedisawindowfromwherevisitors“prayor pay their respects” to Roop from outsidetheroom.Outside,above thewindow,thetextreads:“Shri Roop Kanwar Sati Maa.” AtDivrala,thelegendof Roop Kanwar has only got stronger with each passing year and with every retelling: a woman says the gaanth (lump) on her throat disappeared after she prayed to Roop, one claims her unemployed uncle got a job and her daughter was blessed with a childafteryearsof marriage,and another woman says her family found a groom for her. Narpat Jangid, 46, who was in Class 6 in 1987, claims: “Over 70% in Divrala have faith in Roop and turn to her in times of crisis. ‘Sati Maa’ fulfils their wishes.” HisfatherRamlalwasamong the dozens who spent about 2.5 monthsinjailinconnectionwith the incident. However, seniors likeJaiSingh,75,writeoff Roop’s impact.Hesays,“Onlyafewwho CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Ahmedabad