Click to play videoNew Delhi: In the last 2 weeks two blood donation rackets have been reported. While one has been reported from Delhi, the other racket was busted in Lucknow.
Blood donation rackets operate with the help of fake donors and fake blood.
On the August 19, Delhi Police arrested six people for allegedly arranging professional donors for patients at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in return for Rs 2,000.
"Lots of times when these people bring donors along with them, it is very difficult to verify whether it is a relative, a friend or some other person," said Dr. Poonam Coshic, Blood Transfusion Officer at AIIMS.
Just three days later, another shocking blood donation scam was reported from Lucknow's Thakurganj area.
The gang's modus operandi was to supply spurious blood with fake government certification to private hospitals and nursing homes.
"We sent four samples for testing and it is clear that the sample inside is different from what the label says. Some could in fact even be animal blood but we are not sure," said senior FDA official Vinod Yaduvanshi.
An enquiry had revealed how dangerous their game was with the donors including drug addicts and poor people. The racketeers also collected unused blood from hospitals and used saline to increase volume of blood.
More than 70 pouches, syringes, fake stamps and stickers, too, were recovered and over lakh units sold over last four years.
A doctor warned that used of such contaminated blood could have serious implications.
"It may cause pulmonary disorder, multi organ failure and finally death," said Dr Anil Bansal of the IMA.
Medical experts say the acute shortage of blood in India has provided fertile grounds for such rackets to flourish.
The hospital staff like wardboys and guards led needy patients to middlemen, who then for a couple of thousand of rupees act as donors.
Clearly the blood black market is thriving in India and in the absence of a clear law experts warn that even police crackdowns can do little to stem the illegal sale of blood.
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