Hyderabad, Jan 24 (PTI) Telangana Health Minister C Damodar Rajanarasimha on Friday directed that an investigation into the alleged illegal kidney transplant surgeries conducted at a private hospital here be handed over to the CID of state police.

The minister, who held a meeting with officials, instructed that information about the issue should be furnished to neighbouring Karnataka,Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala governments.

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He suggested that evidence should be collected to ensure tough punishment for those who are involved in the case, besides maintaining surveillance on the surgeries carried out in private and corporate hospitals. The surgeries conducted in private hospitals should be registered, he said.

The minister went through the preliminary report submitted by a committee of doctors on the alleged illegal surgeries, an official release said.

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The officials told the minister that the private hospital, where the surgeries allegedly happened, did not have requisite permissions.

They said kidneys taken from two women from Tamil Nadu were given to those belonging to Karnataka at the private hospital and that poor and gullible people were persuaded to donate their kidneys (for money).

A case was registered against the private hospital here for allegedly carrying out the kidney transplant surgeries without the requisite permissions, police said two days ago.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)