The organ racket in the country charged at least Rs10 million for illegal kidney transplantation from overseas Pakistanis, Caretaker Punjab Chief Minister Mohsin Naqvi revealed on Sunday.

“Police for the past one and a half month has been working on this issue,” Naqvi said at a press conference in Lahore that was centered on the organ racket. “The government has obtained the record of 328 people whose kidneys were transplanted.”

In August, the Organised Crime Unit of Lahore police raided a ‘rented farmhouse’ in the Defence Housing Authority and busted an alleged mega kidney transplant racket.

Despite continuous operations in Punjab, media reports say that the racket was still continuing on a smaller scale as individuals seek to harvest the organs of the poor.

The provincial government stated that they have arrested the prime suspect Dr Fawad who has so far conducted 328 kidney operations. At least three people died in such operations.

He has been arrested five times in the past, the CM said, and added that this time the government would try to make a strong challan against the suspects.

Naqvi revealed that Fawad’s accomplice, who helped him in the operation, was a motor mechanic. He used to give the sedative to the patients, the chief minister said, adding that the group operated locals and expatriates in private houses.

The chief minister vowed to bring all the suspects to justice and highlighted that there were laws present related to transplants.

He added that there were complaints related to the Punjab Human Organ Transplantation Authority (PHOTA).

Naqvi lamented that the people disappointed with kidney diseases looked for such gangs. “We hope that one-window operation will begin at PHOTA,” he said.

The CM was of the view that the Punjab Healthcare Commission should be more effective. While speaking about the investigation into a case where patients lost loss of vision due to an injection, he said that two prime suspects have been arrested.