Four Indian doctors arrested over suspicious organ trade

The head of an Indian upmarket hospital and other four doctors were arrested by police on Wednesday over suspicion of organ trafficking.

According to the Indian Express, police stopped a kidney transplant procedure at the L H Hiranandani hospital in the Powei district of Mumbai, after they found that the donor and recipient were a fake couple.

It reported that the woman agreed to sell her kidney after being paid.

Organs can only be donated by close relatives or by non-relatives approved by a special committee in India.

"We have arrested the chief executive of the hospital Sujit Chatterjee, medical director Anurag Naik and three other medicos," Mumbai police spokesman Ashok Dudhe was quoted as saying, adding that the five people would stay in custody until Saturday.

Millions of Indians suffer from kidney disease, mainly due to high rates of diabetes. However, the shortage of organs available for transplant has fuelled a black market. Endi