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Crime
& Casualties Three
Lashkar Men Killed in Mumbai Police Encounter MUMBAI: Three suspected members of the Pakistan- based Islamic militant group, Lashkar-e-Toiba, were gunned down in a suburb of Mumbai on Saturday. The men were killed in a midday shootout on a busy highway. According to police officials an assault rifle and revolvers were recovered along with the men's car. State's deputy chief minister Chhagan Bhujbal said the possibility of these militants being part of the recent bomb blasts could not be ruled out. Noses
Chopped Off by Militants JAMMU: Unidentified militants chopped off the noses of at least six persons, including a woman, on Wednesday night, it was reported on Saturday. The incident occurred in Panihad village in Rajouri district. Sources said foreign mercenaries went to the house of one Mir Waiz and abused his family members. Before leaving they cut the noses of his wife Fatima, son Mohammad Razaq and a guest Nisar Hussain. Thereafter, they barged into the house of one Noor Hussain and chopped off his nose and also of two of his two sons. The locals took the injured to a hospital. Inter-state Fake Currency Racket
Busted (Go
to Top) HYDERABAD: Police in Hyderabad on Thursday busted a huge inter-state fake currency racket, seizing counterfeit Indian rupees and Saudi riyals amounting to 80,000 rupees. Fourteen people have been arrested. The gang was booked after two of its members were caught trying to use fake riyals at an upmarket hotel. Hi-tech gadgetry ranging from computers, laser printers, scanners and cellular phones were also recovered from the gang's hideout. "We have busted a very big and major gang. It was operating not just in Hyderabad, but Chennai also. Indian and foreign currency from Saudi Arabia has also been recovered. Till now we have arrested 14 people," AK Khan, city's Additional Commissioner of Police, told reporters. Officials said the gang was equipped to print millions worth of fake currency but their plans were foiled after a software engineer overseeing the operation ditched them mid-way."We could not start printing on a large scale as we did not have a software engineer. I started doing this because I had incurred huge losses in my business and was in dire need of money," said Mohammd Iqbal, one of the accused. Fake currency rackets are not uncommom in India, particularly in border areas like Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir. Indian police accuses Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence agency of destabilising its economy by floating counterfeit currency. Pakistan denies the allegation. Poverty
Drives Them to Sell Off Kidneys (Go
to Top) NAMALWARPET (Tamil Nadu): It looks like a typcial Indian slum buzzing with malnourished human beings struggling to survive, but hidden below its filthy exterior are scores of tales of more desperate measures to survive. Namalwarpet, 150 km from coastal Madras city, is notorious as the 'kidney bazzar' of the south. Living in extreme poverty, at least one hundred people here have sold off their kidneys. More alarming is the fact that many others are ready to follow as penury and umemployment drives people to desperation. Twenty seven-year old Prema, a mother of two, sold her kidney for 35,000 rupees last year. Severely malnourished and sick she needs treatment urgently but with the money frittering away in repaying accumulated debts and an unemployed husband to support, she is yet again hapless. "I got 40,000 rupees of which the broker took 5,000 rupees. The rest I used to pay off the debts my husband had taken. I don't have anything left with me now," said Prema. Prema is not alone, most others have a similar story and are easy target for organ brokers who make thousands in the business. A kidney here sells for as less as 40,000-60,000 rupees depending upon the age and health of person. Brokers often end up taking a more than 20 per cent cut, making a cool 3,000 rupees commission. Ironically, unauthorised transplantation of kidneys and other organs is a crime under an Indian law, Transplantation of Human Organs Act, 1994. Under the law, only a person related or emotionally attached to the recipient and who is willing to act as a donor can be allowed to donate his organ. But with the system being lax and morality taking a backseat in the face of survival, both the donor and the recipient have little problem in getting the better out of the system. Recent studies indicate India has over 35,000 patients needing a daily dialysis treatment. Sadly the total number of dialysis units in the country is just 1,000. In Tamil Nadu alone, of the 7,000 patients with renal failure, only 100 get the treatment. Kidney transplantation rackets continue to thrive in large pockets of Tamil Nadu and Punjab. While large cases go unnoticed, a few deals that gone awry unravel that this is only the tip of the iceberg. Fifty-year old Vincent thanked his donor in a hurry for giving him a new life only to repent it at leisure as his life-saver began extorting him. "There was no mention of any money transaction. Hearing his family situation and since we needed a kidney, we gave him the money we could afford. But after the operation he started coming in drunk to demand more money," said a harassed Rani, wife of Vincent, who accepted the kidney from an autorickshaw driver. Though paying for a donated body organ is a criminal offence, India has been known as a "warehouse for kidneys." With a population of over a billion, the need for kidneys has reached a crisis point in India. Only 4,000 such operations are performed annually while 100,000 people suffer kidney failure every year. But more lucrative are foreign clients, whom most of the brokers cater to. -ANI |
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