Special Correspondent
Pune : In a shocking development, Dr. Ajay Taware, former Medical Superintendent of Sassoon General Hospital and already in judicial custody for tampering with blood samples in the high-profile Pune Porsche crash case, has now been arrested in connection with a kidney transplant racket linked to Ruby Hall Clinic.
According to Pune Police, Dr. Taware was taken into custody by the city crime branch for his alleged role in a 2022 illegal kidney transplant network that was first unearthed during an investigation into irregularities in the approval process for organ donation. At the time, Dr. Taware was serving as the Chairperson of the Regional Authorization Committee, the official body responsible for granting approvals for kidney transplants in Pune.
The kidney racket came to light in March 2022, when a woman from Kolhapur posed as the wife of a male patient in need of a transplant. She arranged for a young woman to donate a kidney, falsely claiming her to be a close relative. Later, the donor’s mother also donated a kidney to the same patient. The law in India allows unrelated donors only under specific, verified emotional bonds or extreme circumstances, but this process was clearly bypassed.
A dispute over money during the surgery at Ruby Hall Clinic triggered the unraveling of the entire operation. On 29 March 2022, during the transplant procedure, a heated altercation broke out over promised payments. Just four days later, the woman who claimed to be the patient’s wife confessed her true identity to the authorities, leading to a deeper investigation. So far, 15 people have been named in the FIR registered by Pune Police in this case.
Dr. Taware, now already facing charges for falsifying the blood alcohol report of the underage driver in the May 2024 Porsche crash, has officially been named as a co-accused in the kidney transplant case. His role, as per police sources, involved giving administrative approvals despite clear discrepancies in documentation and relationships between donors and recipients.
He is currently lodged at Yerawada Central Jail and is likely to be produced in court for further remand. His arrest marks a significant escalation in both cases, as investigators now probe the nexus between medical institutions, private hospitals, and corrupt officials involved in organ trafficking.
The involvement of such a senior medical professional in two major criminal cases—one involving tampering of evidence to protect a high-profile minor accused, and another related to the illegal trade of human organs—has sparked outrage and renewed scrutiny over medical ethics and law enforcement in Pune’s healthcare ecosystem.
Further investigation is underway, and authorities have not ruled out the possibility of more arrests in connection with both cases.
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