Visakhapatnam, April 30 (IANS) Visakhapatnam Police have arrested a doctor and five others in a kidney racket case.

Cases under Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections 307, 326 and 420 have been registered against them. More accused are likely to be arrested.

Police said on Sunday that they have arrested Prameswara Rao, doctor of a private hospital, and middlemen Kamaraju, Srinu, Shekhar, Elina and Kondamma.

Visakhapatnam Police Commissioner Trivikram Varma told a news conference that the gang was targeting families facing financial problems.

The police chief said kidney surgeries were performed at Tirumala Hospital in the city. Police investigations revealed that recently two kidney operations were performed on Vinay Kumar and Vasupalli Srinivasa Rao.

The racket came to light two days ago after Vinay Kumar, a resident of Vambay Colony in Visakhapatnam, approached police complaining that an agent lured him to sell one of his kidneys. The agent promised that this could fetch him Rs 8.5 lakh but after removing his kidney at a private hospital, he was paid only Rs 2.5 lakh on December 16, 2022.

The police focused on the involvement of doctors in the racket. Two doctors were found to have played a key role in kidney surgery.

Narla Venkateshwar Rao is alleged to have played an important role. He was arrested and jailed in the past for a kidney racket.

Taking serious note of the illegal kidney transplants, Vizag district administration on Saturday sealed Tirumala Hospital.

The authorities have registered criminal cases against the hospital, which was operating without the requisite permissions.

Health Minister Vidadala Rajini has said that the government has stepped up the vigil in view of the rise in cases of illegal kidney transplants.

She said investigations have been ordered into the kidney racket which was being operated by Tirumala Hospital located at Pendurthi.

The health minister has promised that no one involved in this racket will be spared. She said a state-level committee would be constituted to recommend measures to prevent such incidents.

Visakhapatnam, April 27 (IANS) The Visakhapatnam police continued investigation into the death of a pregnant woman whose semi-naked body was found under suspicious circumstances on the YMCA beach here.

Though the woman, who had left the house after an argument with in-laws, is suspected to have committed suicide, but the circumstances in which the body was found raised doubts about the cause of the death.

The body of Swetha (24), who was five-month pregnant, was found on the beach in the early hours of Wednesday.

She had left her house in the Pedagantyada area on Tuesday evening following an altercation with her in-laws.

Her husband Manikanta, who works as a software engineer in Hyderabad, told police that he spoke to her over phone around 6.15 p.m. He tried to persuade her to return home saying small issues come up in every family. He also advised her to think about the child. However, she disconnected the call and later switched off the phone. The software engineer said he sent messages to her not to take any action in haste.

Manikanta's family lodged a missing complaint with Newport Police Station. He also left for Visakhapatnam from Hyderabad and on reaching the port city, he came to know about Swetha's body being found on the beach.

Police said they found no injury marks on the body. The autopsy report is expected to help police in identifying the cause of the death.

Police were also scanning the CCTV footage to find out if the woman went to the beach alone or was accompanied by somebody. The investigators were also trying to ascertain how and when she reached the beach.

Since the movement of people continues at the beach till 11 p.m., there is no possibility of the woman committing suicide without being noticed by others. Moreover, Beach Patrolling police, Rakshak teams and Beach Guards also patrol the area.

The body was found around 2 a.m. in semi-naked condition and partially buried in the sand, which raised several question marks for the investigators.

Swetha's mother Ramadevi lodged a complaint with the police blaming in-laws for her death. She alleged that they harassed Swetha for dowry and that her husband had threatened to divorce her.

Police have registered a case under section 498A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) against Swetha's husband and in-laws.

Swetha, who was in the process for preparing for civil services exams, had married Manikanta a year ago.