Human organ trading continues

Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) arrested two suspected members of human organ trading gang in Kalai upazila of Joypurhat yesterday.

The arrestees are Atiqur Rahman, 38, son of Abdur Rahim of Binoil village, and Jewel Rana, 30, son of Monsur Ali of Bagoil village in the upazila.

The arrestees used to lure the villagers into selling their organs, such as kidney and liver, said Major Hasan Arafat of Joypurhat Rab CPC-1 (crime prevention camp).

Police detected country's first organ trading network in Kalai upazila in 2011.

With the arrests, it is revealed that the gang still continues their activities in the area.

Their activities came to a halt following busting of the country's first organ trading racket in the area in late August of 2011. According to a list prepared by civil surgeon's office in Joypurhat, at least 42 people of Kalai upazila sold off their kidneys at that time.

 In recent years, kidney transplantation took place at different hospitals in India and Singapore and brokers prepared passports with fake identities and addresses of the kidney donors. But before 2011, it happened at different hospitals in Bangladesh.

In 2011, Kalai police detected an organ trading network in the upazila. Later, 10 people, including Tareque Azam, ringleader of the network, were arrested from different places in the country.

The arrestees later got bail from the High Court and allegedly returned to the same trading, said police.