On Thursday, Pune Police arrested Dr. Ajay Taware, the former medical superintendent of Sassoon General Hospital, for his alleged role in a 2022 kidney transplant racket at Ruby Hall Clinic, one of the city’s most prominent private hospitals. This is Taware’s second major arrest in recent years. He is already lodged in Yerwada Central Jail for allegedly tampering with the blood samples of a 17-year-old boy involved in the high-profile Porsche crash case in Kalyani Nagar that killed two people. According to Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime), Nikhil Pingale, “We have taken Dr. Ajay Taware into custody in the kidney racket case and he will be produced before the court today.” At the time of the alleged illegal transplant, Taware served as the head of the Regional Authorisation Committee that approves organ transplants in Pune.
The kidney racket first came to light in May 2022, when police booked 15 people, including the managing trustee and several staff members of Ruby Hall Clinic. The case revolves around a fraudulent kidney swap transplant, allegedly facilitated by forged documents and identities. A woman from Kolhapur had posed as the wife of a male kidney patient. She donated her kidney to a young woman in need of a transplant, while the young woman’s mother simultaneously donated her kidney to the man. This kind of kidney swap is typically allowed when blood group incompatibility prevents direct donation. However, in this case, the Kolhapur woman was reportedly promised ₹15 lakh for her donation and was not related to the male patient.
The racket unraveled just four days after the March 2022 transplant surgery, when the woman revealed her true identity due to a dispute over the promised money. This revelation exposed the illegal exchange and raised questions about the role of the authorisation committee, which had approved the transplant. Dr. Taware’s involvement is now under investigation, as authorities examine whether he knowingly approved the fraudulent swap. His arrest highlights deep-rooted concerns about regulatory lapses in organ transplant approvals in India.
