Mumbai: In a desperate bid to sell a kidney for financial help, a 45-year-old man fell prey to scammers and lost Rs 2.95 lakh in purported procedural charges.
About The Case
Prashant Nagvekar works as office help with a private firm in Andheri and resides in Dahisar East with his mother, brother, wife and a 10-year-old son. With his debts mounting, he found it difficult to make ends meet and went online for information, finding details of one Sahyadri Hospital in New Delhi that “bought kidneys”. Nagvekar called the number provided and explained that he was in financial trouble and wanted to sell his kidney.
The person on the call promised him Rs 1 crore in exchange for one kidney. Believing this would solve all his financial problems, he agreed. On June 16, while he was at work, he received a call from an unknown number, asking for his blood group, age, address, and other details. He was asked to pay Rs 2.95 lakh for the procedure, and that the amount would be deposited into his account immediately after the donation.
The caller agreed to receive the money in three instalments for which Nagvekar borrowed from acquaintances. Nagvekar was assured he would be called for surgery soon but the caller kept giving excuses and delaying the process. Eventually, his phone was switched off, and Nagvekar realised he had been cheated. He approached the Dahisar police, who have registered a cyber fraud case under the Information Technology Act.
