The Telangana Crime Investigation Department (CID) arrested another key accused in the inter-State human organ trafficking racket that operated under the guise of legitimate organ donation and transplantation.
The case, first reported at Alakananda Multi Speciality Hospital, Kothapet, Saroornagar, has already seen 19 arrests earlier this year.
On Friday, a CID team apprehended Dr. Ruttala Venkata Rama Santosh Naidu, 36, an anaesthesiologist from Visakhapatnam, at Eluru, in Andhra Pradesh. He was produced before the Magistrate at L.B. Nagar, Hyderabad, and sent to judicial remand.
Investigators found that Dr. Santosh was engaged by the prime accused, Ponnulapoti Pavan Kumar alias Pavan, whenever illegal kidney transplant surgeries were scheduled in Hyderabad.
“For each surgery, he was allegedly paid ₹2.5 lakh in cash. He worked in connivance with other doctors, including Dr. Rajashekar and Dr. Avinash, administering anaesthesia to donors and recipients at Alakananda, Janani and Aruna hospitals where the illicit operations were carried out,” said an officer from the CID.
The case was originally registered at Saroornagar police station in April 2025 on a complaint from the Deputy District Medical and Health Officer of Rangareddy and later transferred to the CID for detailed investigation.
The CID confirmed that efforts are under way to trace and apprehend other absconding members of the network, which is suspected of carrying out multiple illegal kidney transplants across Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.
