At some point of time in our lives, especially in our younger days, we have all joked about selling our kidney because we were broke or wanted to buy something which was completely out of budget.
But seems like this Bangalore man took it very seriously when he actually tried to sell his kidney for Rs 1.6 crore. He claimed that he had seen an internet ad that a famous senior doctor from Columbia Asia Hospital in Bangalore had posted.
The man who has been identified as MB Somashekar claimed that Dr Arun Wesley David, the HoD of Renal Transplant Surgery at the hospital had posted this ad on a website he doesn’t remember the name of.
Since Somashekar, a stenographer by profession, was in dire need of money, he decided to sell one of his kidneys. He apparently even talked to someone impersonating as Dr David and the impersonator promised him a sum of Rs 1.6 crores for his kidney.
Somashekar then approached Aprajita Dhal, transplant coordinator at the hospital, and told her that he came to know about Dr Arun Wesley David through a website and he had had a Whatsapp conversation with him.
According to a report in a leading newspaper, an officer investigating the case said:
“Somashekar is said to have shown Dhal WhatsApp messages and subsequent conversations on various dates where Dr David’ allegedly had been in contact with him about the sale of his kidney. However, he could not remember the name of the website or its URL.”
The impersonator had asked Somashekar to go to the hospital with his Aadhaar card and other identity proofs so that the formalities for the sale could be completed.
The hospital was in for a rude shock when this man walked in and made these claims. After the incident, Dr David said that the number used in the Whatsapp conversations wasn’t his and someone was impersonating him to fool people. He filed a legal complaint regarding the same.
The Cyber Police has registered a case under section 66(C) and 66(D) of the Information Technology Act of 2000 and 120B (criminal conspiracy) 468 (forgery for purpose of cheating), 420 (cheating), 471 (using as genuine a forged document) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) along with other sections of the IPC.
This incident brings to light the sorry state of affairs in our country and how one needs to be careful and vigilant at all times lest they be fooled.
