Police have reasons to believe that Rao, who hails from Telangana, had been staying in Kolkata for 18 years because his father was a banker posted in the city for over two decades. Rao doesn't have a formal job but is known to have excelled in illegal kidney donation. Rao alias Raju reportedly tried a hand in this business at least eight years ago and has developed a solid network among pathology labs and hospitals in North 24-Parganas.

Rao used this network to get details of patients including their address and economic background. He used the data base to get in touch with his targets and convince them for kidney donation against money. Police suspect that Rao managed five such illegal organ donation - three from males and two from females - this year only. Of the five deals, two donors are from Bengal, including one Moumita, wife of accused Debashish Moulik from New Jalpaiguri. Rao offered the kidneys for a Rs 30-lakh package when the donor (read seller) got Rs 2 lakh only.

Delhi Police got the tip off while questioning one of the arrested donors and also accused Aseem Sikdar (37), a resident of Sodepur. Aseem was Rao's representative in Delhi. He used to keep the donors at Pahargunj hotels adjoining New Delhi and Old Delhi railway stations.

"The donors used to carry forged documents from Bengal," said police. Assem told police that Rao used to identify donors from Kolkata and pass on their details over Skype. Rao also used Skype to give instructions to Aseem. According to Aseem, Rao used to keep one-third of the Rs 30 lakh package for himself, while the rest was spent on hotel and hospital expenses and also the commission for Aseem and his men.

"Aseem claimed he came in touch with Rao in Kolkata. Rao offered him a handsome amount for donating his kidney. Sikdar was sent to a hospital in Coimbatore where his kidney was donated to Rao's client. Similarly, Maulik had donated his wife's kidney to a patient at Apollo Hospital while the kidney transplant of the third accused Satya Prakash, a Kanpur resident who arranged donors from UP, was done at a Jalandhar hospital," said police.

Rao was doing fine from Kolkata till police went on an overdrive against the illegal rackets in 2013-14 and nabbed persons from the Mukundapur area along the EM Bypass. Sensing trouble, Rao shifted operations from Kolkata to Coimbatore and then to Jalandhar. "Once we round up Rao, we will come to know about the entire modus operandi connecting Kolkata, Delhi, Coimbatore, Jalandhar and Kanpur," said an investigating officer.

(Dwaipayan Ghosh - timesofindia.indiatimes.com)