More than 8000 kidney failure patients have died in the last one year in Karnataka for want of transplant with the kingpin of 1993 kidney scam, Dr K Siddaraju refusing to handle transplants after he returned to his post at Victoria Hospital. This is the only government transplant facility approved by the Karnataka Appropriate Committee for Kidney Transplant headed by the law secretary of Karnataka.

Many poor patients who cannot afford private hospitals have been depending on Victoria Hospital for kidney transplants in the state.

When contacted, Dr Siddaraju, who has now been given the post of hospital superintendent, initially expressed his ignorance about the deaths and later dismissed the question nonchalantly.

Karnataka has five per cent of the two lakh kidney failure cases and four per cent of these are below the poverty line, depending solely on the Victoria Hospital for treatment. It was only in 2001 that the state lifted the ban on transplants imposed on Victoria Hospital following Dr Siddaraju's involvement in the scam while he was head of nephrology at the hospital. Since the ban was lifted, two successful transplants have been conducted by Dr MS Rajashekhar, head of nephrology and urology, Victoria Hospital between 2001 and 2002, before he retired and made way for the return of Dr Siddaraju as head of nephrology.

The current scene at Victoria Hospital is that patients who need a transplant are forced to opt for dialysis and they succumb to the disease. Although a large number of cases are in the BPL (below the poverty line) category, the patients who can afford a transplant at a missionary hospital like St. Johns Medical College Hospital are not even recommended by the Nephro department at Victoria Hospital. Officials in the state health and family welfare department are reluctant to comment and only sympathise with the situation. The Karnataka Appropriate Committee members stated that they could only approve the facility and Victoria Hospital was granted permission for conducting transplants from 2001 to 2005 after which another round of inspections need to be conducted for the further approval of the facility.

It was in 1994 that a major scam involving Dr Siddaraju and other doctors was unearthed by Bangalore police headed by investigation officer VS D'Souza. Kidneys from innocent and poor people were removed without their knowledge after giving them anaesthesia and transplanted to wealthy patients mostly Saudi nationals who were charged lakhs of rupees.

The poor 'donors' who were brought to Bangalore from villages by agents who passed off as labour contractors and were paid a few thousand rupees and taken to hospital on pretext of drawing blood. The agents told them the employers required the labourers to undergo health checks before they were hired.

Cases against Dr Siddaraju are still pending and are expected to come up for hearing on February 28, 2004.

The involvement of a high-profile doctor like Siddaraju and a private hospital Yellamma Dasappa in cheating gullible 'donors' and recipients alike had sent shock waves in the city. One of the recipients had also died after a kidney transplant.

The Commercial Street police station had registered five cases after they busted the racket. The complainant in the cases was Velu, a resident of Tamil Nadu and the accused are, besides Dr Siddaraju, Mohd. Yousuff, Mohammed Haneef, Abdul Razak and Dr Dilip Patil.

The other cases are based on complaints from more donors comprising Ananda of Mysore, HC Deveerappa of Davanagere and one from Mandya.

The sections in the IPC sections attract IPC 326 for crimes including voluntarily causing grievous hurt by dangerous weapons or means, IPC 342: wrongful confinement, IPC 384, extortion 506/6, criminal intimidation IPC 420, cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery or property 120 (b) criminal conspiracy.

In a few cases the sections that are included are IPC 379 theft, IPC 417, cheating, IPC 397 Robbery.