The Madanapalle police in Annamayya district on Wednesday (November 12) arrested seven persons, including a senior government doctor and two technicians of a government hospital, on charges of illegally removing a kidney from a 29-year-old Visakhapatnam woman who died after the procedure.
According to the police, the incident took place at Global Multi-Speciality Hospital in SBI Colony here on November 9 around 2.30 pm. A case was registered at the II-Town police station on November 12 after a relative of the woman, identified as Sadi Yamuna of Boddapalem village in Anandapuram mandal of Visakhapatnam district, reported her missing.
According to the preliminary investigation, Anjaneyulu (A-1), the District Coordinator of Health Services (DCHS-Annamayya District), who also worked for Global Multi Specialty Hospital, in connivance with a doctor from Bengaluru (A-2) and dialysis technicians Balu (A-3) from Government Hospital, Madanapalle, and Meharaj (A-4) without permission to take transplant kidney from the competent authority for kidney transplant from the competent authority, Kadi Human Transplantation Act organs and tissues. The kidney was reportedly intended for a dialysis patient in Goa.
They were allegedly assisted by Pilli Padma (A-5), Sathya (A-6) and Suri (A-7), all residents of Visakhapatnam, who were part of the money conspiracy.
Deputy Superintendent of Police (SP-Madanapalle) S. Mahendra told The Hindu that the accused had convinced Yamuna’s widow to sell her kidney to overcome her financial problems. The kidney was allegedly harvested and illegally sold without the knowledge of her family members.
After the procedure, Yamuna is said to have slipped into a coma and was rushed to SVRR Hospital in Tirupati on November 9, but died in the early hours of November 10. After her death, the accused allegedly tried to take Yamuna’s body to her native village without informing the family.
The SP representative said the body was brought back to the government hospital in Madanapalle from Tirupati on Wednesday. “We are awaiting the autopsy report,” he said. Criminal cases are being conducted against the accused according to sections of the BNS and the Act on Transplantation of Human Organs and Tissues.
Busa Suramma, Yamun’s mother, reached Madanapalle on Wednesday and lodged a formal complaint with the police.
Andhra Pradesh has seen several cases of illegal kidney trade. In 2018, Guntur police busted a racket where fake Aadhaar certificates and family relationships were used to pass off unrelated donors as relatives. In 2023, a private hospital in Visakhapatnam’s Pendurthi area was sealed after six people were arrested in an illegal kidney transplant case. In 2024, two separate cases in Guntur revealed rackets where an autorickshaw driver was duped into selling his kidney for a fraction of the promised amount, while another group arranged illegal transplants using forged documents.
Published – 12 Nov 2025 18:50 IST
