Depraved Doctors: amputating the healthy limps for lust of few thousands

Doctors are known for healing the wounds and saving lives, but for few criminal doctors’ it matters of hurting by amputating the healthy limps for lust of few thousands. The news of Doctors joining hands with beggar mafia appeared in CNN IBN telecast and shocked thousands across the nation. 

CNN IBN Reports…

We see them at red lights, outside our car windows. Beggars inhabit a world far removed from ours, but have you ever thought how they get maimed? What if film stories of gangs who chop off limbs of people and force them to beg, were real? CNN-IBN exposes the unholy nexus between beggar mafia and doctors who are willing to sacrifice all medical ethics for just a few thousand rupees.

Amputating fingers no problem

CNN-IBN Posted Saturday , July 29, 2006 at 19:24 Updated Saturday , July 29, 2006 at 20:57  
New Delhi: Dr P K Bansal is an orthopaedic surgeon, who practices at Old Rajinder Nagar, New Delhi was reffered to the CNN-IBN--DIG team by Dr Ajay Agarwal. 

He too performs amputations on beggars. Dr P K Bansal: "Willingly koi kanoon hamare ko permit nahin karta ki main apna haath pair kata doon." ("No law permits us to amputate a healthy limb.").

 Dr P K Bansal, an orthopaedic surgeon in Delhi may know the law but is not bothered by it. 

Dr Bansal belongs to a network of doctors who amputate beggars for money. 

Dr Bansal was referred to CNN-IBN--DIG by Dr Ajay Agarwal, soon after Dr Agarwal himself took cash from CNN-IBN--DIG to amputate a healthy beggar’s limb. 

These are excerpts from the conversation that CNN-IBN--DIG had with Dr Ajay Agarwal.

DIG: (" Delhi main toh abhi tak koi nahi mila hai.") "We have no one in Delhi yet."

Dr Agarwal: "Dr P K Bansal."

DIG: (" Delhi ka?") "Is he from Delhi ?"

Dr Agarwal: ("Gangaram ke paas hi apna nursing home hai.") "His nursing home is near Gangaram hospital in Delhi ." 

Following up on the number given by Dr Agarwal DIG investigators contacted Dr Bansal.

He invited them to his clinic Orthomat in Delhi ’s Old Rajinder Nagar locality.

Docs chop off limbs for beggars

 

CNN-IBN Posted Saturday, July 29, 2006 at 20:03. Updated Sunday, July 30, 2006 at 07:55

 

New Delhi : A car screeches to a halt, the don steps out, collects money from child beggars, slaps them and zooms away—a scene from numerous Bollywood films on goons chopping off limbs and forcing people to beg. But the story is true.

 

 

A special investigation by CNN-IBN and DIG has found that a beggar mafia exists and it tortures and maims people to make them beg. And there are doctors who help the mafia by amputating the limbs of healthy people.

 

 

At

Connaught Place

in Delhi , the DIG group asked beggar Ramesh: Yeh pair kaise, kisne katva diya? (Who chopped off your leg?)

 

 

"Bheek mangne wale ne," says Ramesh (The person who forces us to beg). Ramesh's leg was chopped off five years ago and he was forced to beg in a subway.

 

 

What happened to Ramesh is horrific, and the story becomes even more shocking with the discovery that there are doctors who use their knives to cripple and maim perfectly healthy human being.

 

 

Dr Ajay Agarwal, a senior orthopaedic surgeon at district hospitals in the Ghaziabad and Noida cities of Uttar Pradesh, is one such doctor. For a price he will cut off a person’s arm or leg. Posing as artificial limbs suppliers, DIG investigators asked Dr Agarwal if he would amputate healthy limbs.

 

 

Dr Ajay Agarwal, orthopaedic surgeon, for whom chopping off healthy limbs is no hassle.

 

 

DIG: “Yahan private mein kitna kharcha hoga, sir aapka?” (How much would you charge for an amputation)

 

 

Dr Agarwal: "With medicine, ten thousand (rupees)"

 

 

DIG: "With medicine, ten thousand. Chahe haath kate ya pair kate." (With medicine, ten thousand rupees-for cutting a leg or an arm)

 

 

Dr Agarwal: "Chahe yahan kate ya yahan kate." (For cutting a leg or an arm)

 

 

DIG investigators asked Dr Agarwal if he would amputate the limbs of people who were to be made beggars. He said yes

 

 

Doctors hack off medical ethics

 

 

CNN-IBN Posted Saturday, July 29, 2006 at 20:16 Updated Saturday , July 29, 2006 at 20:41

 

 

New Delhi: Ajay Agarwal, senior orthopaedic surgeon at the Ghaziabad and Noida district hospitals, was not only willing to amputate beggar’s limbs for money but when promised more cash, he even introduced the CNN-IBN and DIG team to his partners in crime.

 

 

DIG: Dr Saheb ek cheez aur. Jo aapse phone per baat ki thi. Hum log is kam ke expand kar rahai hai, not only Ghaziabad . (Dr we are expanding our work and not only in Ghaziabad ).

 

 

Dr Agarwal: Har district main ek ek de de ta hoon (I will give you one in each district).

 

 

DIG: Mujhe char dijiye, ek to mujhe apne Panipat bataya tha, Jaipur bataya tha (Give me four. You said one was in Panipat and the other in Jaipur)

 

 

Dr Agarwal: As pass ilake me kar lo (Do your work in nearby areas).

 

 

DIG: Kahan (Where?)

 

 

Dr. Agarwal: Meerut, Muzaffarnagar, Saharanpur .

 

 

Dr Agarwal quickly made a series of phone calls revealing a network of doctors who would agree to chop hands, arms, legs and in fact any limb for a price.

 

 

Dr Agarwal: Hello Arvind. Dr Ajay Agarwal Ghaziabad se. Aur kya haal hain, kaise chal raha hai kam dham. Ek kuch sansatha hain Goa ki, to jisse beggar ka ya diseased person, ka kuch amputation ke cases Bareilly mein karne ki cha rahee hai.. To tum kar dooge? (Hello Arvind. I am Dr Ajay Agarwal from Ghaziabad . How are you and how is the work? There is an organisation from Goa and it wants some beggars and diseased persons to be amputated in Bareilly . Will you do it?)

 

 

His sales pitch exposed his familiarity with the horrific practice of amputation.

 

 

Dr Agarwal: Bakaida patient consent de rehe hai. Aapko surgeon charges de rahe hai. Aapko kahin dikkat hain, aur yeh bahut moti si baat mano. Do beggar tumhare saamne khade hain, ek ka pair kata hai tumari jeb main ek sikka hai kis ko doge? Jiska amputation hai (The patient is giving his consent. You have to pay only the fee for the surgery. Believe me if there are two beggars before you and one of them is lame you will give the give money to the lame beggar.)

 

 

Dr Agarwal: Vohi consent dega patient ka, aur yeh surgeon ko surgeon charges pura denge, to tum kar paoge? Beggars ki earning badh jaati hai. (He will give the consent for the patient and will pay the surgeon’s fee. So will you do it? The earning of the beggar increases).

 

 

Impact: Hacker docs in the dock

 

CNN-IBN Posted Saturday , July 29, 2006 at 21:17 Updated Sunday , July 30, 2006 at 17:25

 

 

New Delhi : One of doctors exposed in the CNN-IBN and DIG investigation exposing the unholy nexus between the beggar mafia and doctors, Dr Ajay Aggrawal, claimed he was innocent.

 

 

“I am ready for any inquiry. My image has been tarnished by the media and I am a victim of conspiracy,” he said.

 

After the investigation exposed doctors who cut off beggars' limbs for a price to help the beggar mafia the Indian Medical Association (IMA) has promised to prosecute the erring doctors.

 

 

National President Elect of the Indian Medical Association, Dr Ajay Kumar, has said that the doctors will be arrested immediately.

 

 

"If they are registered with the IMA then their medical license will be immediately suspended," he said.

 

 

"The medical community should set ethical standards. The Government will step in and derecognise the degrees of erring doctors," said health secretary, P K Hota.

 

 

The police have already taken Dr P K Bansal for questioning. He runs a clinic named Orthomat in Delhi 's Old Rajinder Nagar locality.

 

 

Dr Bansal had agreed to amputate the limbs of a beggar despite knowing that the law prohibits amputation by will.

 

 

Another doctor, Ghaziabad-based Ajay Agarwal took money to amputate healthy limbs of a DIG investigator who posed as a prospective beggar.

 

 

People entered Agarwal's house in Ghaziabad and demanded action against the erring doctor.

 

 

The Uttar Pradesh government has ordered an enquiry against Dr Agarwal, said Director General of medical health, UP, Bina Nath.

 

 

In a sting operation, a team of CNN-IBN reporters exposed orthopaedic surgeon Ajay Agarwal's unethical practice.

 

 

Dr Agarwal put the fake beggar through a series of medical tests at his nursing home.

 

The surgeon pocketed Rs 4,000 as advance for the operation from the team while also giving advice on how the amputation could be made to look legal.

 

 

When CNN-IBN reached Dr Ajay Agarwal at the Noida Civil Hospital , the cameraperson was pushed and abused.

 

 

It was in fact Dr Ajay Agarwal who had referred Dr P K Bansal to the investigative team as part of amputation nexus.

 

 

Dr Ajay Agarwal is absconding and the police are trying to track him down.

 

 

CNN-IBN had also exposed Dr Arvind Agarwal of Bareilly .

 

 

Dr Agarwal, who is also the Secretary of the Orthopaedic Association of Bareilly is now absconding.

 

 

His wife says he has not returned since Saturday afternoon.

 

 

When questioned about Dr Agarwal, his wife, Dr Neera Agarwal said,”If he has not come then how can I tell you?”

 

 

The police are now looking out for him. The Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), Bareilly , Anand Swaroop said, "We are looking for him and have contacted IMA for cooperation."

 

 

Why and how beggars lose limbs

 

CNN-IBN Posted Sunday , July 30, 2006 at 21:12 Updated Monday , July 31, 2006 at 00:01

 

 

New Delhi : The brutal ways of the beggar mafia know no boundary. In order to sustain their business, they don't hesitate to use willing doctors to first invalidate totally healthy limbs and then hack them off before pushing the victims back on the streets to live off their earnings.

 

 

The personal accounts of many such victims of the beggar mafia stand testimony to this ugly truth.

 

Mohan is a beggar, often seen begging outside a well-known temple in Delhi . He is a victim of the beggar mafia.

 

 

Ten years ago, he was picked up by the mafia in Chennai and taken to Punjab , where his leg was amputated.

 

 

This is what he recalls about the amputation operation.

 

 

DIG: Behosh karke? Kaise behosh kiya aapko? (They did it by making you unconscious? How did they make you unconscious?)

 

 

Mohan: Injection laga ke. (They gave me an injection.)

 

 

DIG: Kahan lagaya aapko injection? (Where exactly did they administer the injection?)

 

 

Mohan: Injection lagane ke baad to hosh hi nahin rahega. (Immediately after they gave me the injection, I lost consciousness.)

 

 

DIG: Aapne injection kyon lagvaya tha? (Why did you go for an injection in the first place?)

 

 

Mohan: Doctor ka kaam hai, doctor kar diya. (It was the doctor's job. He did it.)

 

 

DIG: Aapko doctor ke paas le gaya tha. (That means someone took you to the doctor, right?)

 

 

Ashok, who was once a beggar along with Mohan, now runs a shop. He narrates the rest of Mohan's traumatic story.

 

 

Ramesh is another victim of the beggar mafia. He was promised a job. Then, he was admitted to a hospital in Agra on the pretext of a medical check-up.

 

 

Ramesh: Bola kaam vaam dila denge Delhi mein. (They said they will give me a job in Delhi .)

 

 

DIG: Kaam vaam dila denge Delhi mein, yeh kehke le gaya ? Phir? (They got you here with the promise of giving you a job? Then what happened?)

 

 

Ramesh: Hanh kaam dilane ke bahane. (Yes, on the pretext of giving a job.)

 

 

DIG: Agra mein hospital mein admit kara diya? Hanh? (Then you were admitted to an Agra hospital. Right?)

 

 

Ramesh: Hanh (Yes.)

 

 

Beggars in a vice-like grip of mafia

 

 Rohit Khanna, CNN-IBN Posted Sunday , July 30, 2006 at 21:24 Updated Sunday , July 30, 2006 at 21:39

 

 

New Delhi : Beggar mafia's are no longer just a celluloid image. Their existence is a harsh reality. CNN-IBN and DIG have exposed orthopedic surgeons willing to amputate limbs of beggars. Now the team has exposed beggar testimonies that confirm the existence of a beggar mafia.

 

 

The DIG group asked beggar Meenu: Voh aadmi jahan pe bhi lekar aapka pair katvaya, phir usne aapse bheek mangvayi. (After amputation you were made to beg?)

 

 

Meenu: Hanh. Jo main paise kamati thi, shyam ko le lete the. (I begged all day and they took all the money.)

 

 

DIG: Sab paise le jate the aapse. Aap ko kuch nahin dete the? (They take all your money? Did you get any money?)

 

 

Meenu: Nahin. (No.)

 

 

DIG: Khana pina. (What about food?)

 

 

Meenu: Khana pina sab dilate the. (They give us only food.)

 

 

Meenu, a beggar is narrating her most horrific personal experience. Hari and Meenu have one thing in common – they were forced into begging as children like many others on the streets.

 

 

DIG: Achcha do teen bachche jo aap ke saath the, aap ko pata hai unke saath kya ho raha tha? Unke bhi haath pair kaat rakhe the? (How about those kids you saw there.)

 

 

Meenu: Unke to pair pehle hi kate hue the. (Their limbs had already been amputated.)

 

These beggars would never talk on camera fearing the beggar mafia that runs their lives. But on hidden camera, their testimonies prove the existence of this mafia across the country involving kidnappers, middleman and local ganglords.

 

 

The DIG group asked beggar Anna: Tum sham to kisi ko paisa dete ho? (Is someone collecting money from you?)

 

 

Anna: Aata hai (Yes.)

 

 

DIG: Aata hai? Kaun? (Who?)

 

 

Anna: Janne vala aata hai. (An acquaintance.)

 

 

DIG: Kitna dete ho use. (How much you give?)

 

 

Anna: Kitna pachas, jitna bhi (Rs 50 or so.)

 

 

DIG: Apne paas kitna rakhte ho? (How much you keep?)

 

 

Anna: Thoda bahut rakhta hai (A little bit.)

 

 

The CNN-IBN DIG Investigation exposed three doctors all known to each other willing to conduct illegal amputations on healthy limbs. Ajay Agarwal in Ghaziabad, Arvind Agarwal from Bareilly, and PK Bansal from the heart of Delhi .

 

 

But the stories of beggars whose limbs were amputated indicate a network of hospitals and doctors across who are in this racket.

 

 

A beggar Raju says, ”Pair katvane vale, jahan ka dalal ho. Jahan ka contact ho. Jaise ki Meerut mein kar lo. Chahe to idhar hi Haryana se kar lo. Delhi se kar lo. Sawai Man Singh le lo. (They have their marked areas- Meerut, Haryana, Delhi , Swai, Mansingh, Mumbai.)

 

 

DIG: NOIDA and Ghaziabad .

 

 

Raju: Haan (Yes.)

 

 

DIG: Noida hai? (Is Noida also?)

 

 

Raju: Kyon nahin hai (Why not.)

 

 

DIG: Ghaziabad ?.

 

 

Raju: haan<.i> (Yes)

 

 

DIG: Kahan katwaya pair? (Where were you amputated?)

 

 

Anna: Punjab mein. (In Punjab .)

 

 

DIG: Usine katvaya dalal ne pair? (Who amputated your leg. The mafia guy?)

 

 

Sanjay Singh: Haah (Yes.)

 

 

That begging has long been a grey commercial activity run by criminal gangs, is also confirmed by social scientists.

 

 

While the beggars were not ready to risk their lives and lead us to the beggar mafia, the doctors that this CNN-IBN DIG Investigation has exposed may have more to tell. But will the police pursue this Investigation to its logical end? We wait and watch.

 

 

(With chief investigator Jamshed Khan, for CNN-BN with Neeti Tandon)

 

 

Law fails to prevent begging industry

 

Neeti Tandon, CNN-IBN Posted Sunday , July 30, 2006 at 23:07 Updated Monday , July 31, 2006 at 07:14

 

 

New Delhi : The Beggary Prevention Act makes it illegal for people to beg. However, what is surprising is that begging is almost like an industry now.

 

 

Rates are fixed for where one wants to beg and a fixed percentage is set for authorities so that everyone can get a share of the beggars loot.

 

 

Is that the reason why perfectly healthy people want to get rid of their body parts?

 

 

Ravindra Nath is skilled artisan but strangely he prefers to beg. Treated as a criminal offence under the Beggary Prevention Act, he has been convicted for begging several times. When the CNN-IBN and DIG team met him he was serving his sentence at a beggar detention centre in Lampur, Delhi .

 

 

Some like Ravindra Nath are beggars by choice and they say that there is big money in the begging industry.

 

 

A beggar in Hanuman Mandir says, "Many people who have made houses here just by begging."

 

Outside Bhairon Mandir in Delhi beggars are even served Scotch whisky by devotees.

 

 

On a good day, at a location like mandirs, beggars could earn up to Rs 250. The money is often just smoked away.

 

 

Surprisingly the Government is aware of the increasing number of beggars in big cities, and the money involved but does nothing.

 

 

Dharamrao Baba Atram says, "There are about 50,000 beggars annual turnover of Rs 180 crore according to police data. Many have been arrested and court has released them. This is information of 2005-06."

 

 

Rs 180 crore is what the beggars of Mumbai earn in a year - a figure given by the state government itself.

 

 

It is no surprise then that criminal gangs have stepped in especially as the Government has turned a blind eye to this section of society.

 

 

The anti-begging squad in action in Delhi – beggars were being rounded up but handicapped beggars were being left alone.

 

 

Nobody in the police or Government would tell why till the investigation team met the beggar-turned street vendor.

 

 

Clearly, handicapped beggars are better earners and the beggar mafia ensures that they stay on the street. Local enforcement officials are encouraged to look away.

 

 

While beggars are treated as criminals and sentenced for a year to detention centers, the beggar mafia go scot-free.

 

 

A beggar Raju says, "Ek ek saal ki saja dete hain. Phir bhi vahan se aa jate hain yahan. Sham ko phir apna chale jate hain. Vahan pe jo duty be baithta hai, usko kharcha paani de dete hain. Aa rahe hain ja rahen hain aa rahen hain jaa rahe hain. Sarkar ki pakki dava daru sab chal rha hai. Sare aam kaam kabhi nahin hota. (Beggars are given one year sentence but those associated with the mafia are not arrested They pay off government officials and get free.)

 

 

So far, the ministry of social justice and empowerment has not responded to this CNN IBN-DIG investigation. One wonders why the Aam Aadmi Government is silent – perhaps because 'beggars don't scream'.

 

 

With DIG investigator Jamshed khan in New Delhi .

 

 

Legal options to nail 'butcher' docs

 

 

Arunoday Mukharji CNN-IBN Posted Monday , July 31, 2006 at 07:46 Updated Monday , July 31, 2006 at 12:01

 

 

New Delhi : Hours after CNN-IBN exposed the unholy nexus between beggar mafia and doctors willing to amputate limbs for a few thousand rupees, police and medical authorities swung into action.

 

 

Dr P K Bansal's orthopaedic clinic in Delhi 's Rajender Nagar was raided on Saturday night and the doctor was detained for questioning.

 

 

However, later he was released. The police say since there was no complainant, Bansal could not be arrested.

 

 

 

Supreme Court advocate Sunil Kumar says the crime is as good as a murder

 

 

But many in the officialdom are calling for criminal action against the exposed doctors.

 

 

"It’s criminal. Action should be taken immediately," Delhi ’s Finance Minister A K Walia said.

 

 

"The trial should be held in a fast track court and strict action should be taken," President, Indian Medical Association, Vijay Agarwal said.

 

 

However, so far there has been no action taken.

 

 

Legal experts say even in the absence of a complainant, police can investigate such matters according to the Criminal Procedure Code.

 

 

Impact: UP government promises action

 

 

 

Seemi Pasha CNN-IBN Posted Monday , July 31, 2006 at 08:33 Updated Tuesday , August 01, 2006 at 09:00

 

 

New Delhi : Two days after the the CNN-IBN expose on how doctors are willing to amputate limbs for a price, the three doctors are still absconding .

 

 

Dr Agarwal spoke to CNN-IBN over the phone and despite of all evidence on tape, he claims he is innocent and is being framed.

 

 

“I am innocent. I am being framed,” Dr Agarwal said.

 

 

Meanwhile, the common man is shocked and the medical fraternity is hanging its head in shame.

 

 

Dr Agarwal was caught on camera willing to amputate a perfectly healthy limb of a beggar for a few thousand rupees. The investigation has shocked public conscience.

 

 

Here is what some of them had to say - “He should be hanged.”

 

 

“If doctors become the mafia, what will happen to the country?”

 

 

“None of the money goes to beggars.”

 

 

Meanwhile, the Uttar Pradesh Government has ordered an enquiry into Dr Agarwal's practice. The report will be submitted in two days. The state’s medical fraternity admits it is a big blot.

 

 

“All doctors who are corrupt and indulge in these activities should be punished,” President, Government Doctors Association, Lucknow , Dr D P Mishra says.

 

 

Thousands of beggars with amputated limps throng the streets of Delhi and it's almost impossible to get any of them to talk about the existence of the beggar mafia. But off the camera they said that these groups do exist.