Dr. Ajay Taware, a former senior medical officer from Pune’s Sassoon General Hospital, has found himself entangled in yet another legal controversy. Already imprisoned in connection with the infamous Porsche crash case, Taware has now been arrested by the city’s crime branch in connection with an illegal kidney transplant racket that took place in 2022.

The alleged organ transplant scam, which happened at Ruby Hall Clinic, one of Pune’s most prominent private hospitals, involved fraudulent documentation and identity manipulation. During that time, Dr. Taware served as the head of the Regional Authorisation Committee, the body responsible for approving organ transplant procedures.

“We have taken Dr Ajay Taware into custody in the kidney racket case and he will be produced before the court today,” confirmed Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime) Nikhil Pingale.

The kidney scam was first unearthed in May 2022, when Pune Police filed a case against 15 individuals, including senior staff and the managing trustee of Ruby Hall Clinic. It centered on a suspicious swap transplant carried out in March of that year.

According to investigators, a woman from Kolhapur was allegedly offered Rs 15 lakh to falsely claim she was married to a man awaiting a kidney transplant. In this staged arrangement, she donated her kidney to a young female patient. In return, that patient’s mother donated her kidney to the man. While such kidney exchange arrangements known as paired donations are permitted under Indian law when blood group mismatches occur, they must follow strict legal and ethical guidelines. The involvement of money and fake identities is illegal.

Four days after her surgery, on March 29, 2022, the Kolhapur woman reportedly came forward with the truth after a monetary dispute. Her confession triggered a deeper probe into the transplant’s approval process and the role of hospital officials and committee members in enabling it.

Law enforcement suspects that falsified documents may have been used and that Dr. Taware’s position on the approval committee was exploited to push the procedure through. Police are also investigating whether more such transplants might have been cleared improperly during his tenure.

This arrest adds to the growing list of charges against Taware. In 2023, he was detained in a separate high-profile case involving a 17-year-old boy who allegedly caused a deadly car crash while driving a Porsche in Pune’s Kalyani Nagar area. Dr. Taware was accused of tampering with the teenager’s blood reports to potentially show the absence of alcohol.

Taware Recently Taken into Custody

Currently held at Yerwada Central Jail for that earlier case, Taware was recently taken into custody by the crime branch for questioning in the transplant racket and is due to appear in court.

Police believe that multiple stakeholders including committee officials, hospital staff, and brokers may have collaborated to bypass legal organ donation procedures, highlighting a broader issue of unethical practices within the organ transplant system.