NIA Probes Kerala Health Club Linked to Iran Organ Trafficking Case

Kochi: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) is examining the activities of a health club in Kerala that was started by the main accused in a case involving the trafficking of people to Iran for illegal organ harvesting. The details were revealed in an affidavit filed by the agency in court while seeking custody of the accused.

According to the affidavit submitted by the NIA, the prime accused, Madhu Jayakumar, a resident of Vattathipadam, Palarivattom, had been collecting money along with three others through a bank account opened in the name of Stemma Club, maintained with South Indian Bank. The NIA court’s order granting custody noted this financial trail. Jayakumar, who had been living in Iran, was arrested on November 7 after he arrived in India. The court handed him over to the agency for custodial interrogation from November 12 to November 19.

The NIA stated in its affidavit that the accused trafficked several people to Iran, first by offering money and later through threats, forcing them into situations where they had to surrender their kidneys to survive. The agency said the accused used this exploitation to extort large amounts of money and accumulated illegal wealth through cash, cryptocurrency and real estate. All of this, the NIA said, was part of a planned criminal conspiracy.

Sources in the NIA said their investigation shows that most organ donors were from Telangana, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, while the recipients were from various northern states. The network is suspected to have charged up to Rs 50 lakh for each transplant. The affidavit referred to by the court described Jayakumar as the kingpin of the international organ trafficking operation.

Stemma Club, the health club linked to the financial transactions, was run by Jayakumar in Kochi with the support of co-accused Sabith Nasar from Thrissur and Sajith Shyam from Kalamassery. Both were earlier arrested in connection with the case. The NIA believes the club’s bank account was used to transfer funds generated from organ trade activities conducted in Iran. The account, along with other assets belonging to the accused, has been attached during the investigation.

Officials said the NIA has traced transactions worth Rs 6 crore in a bank account operated by Sabith. Sabith had first come under suspicion on 18 May 2024 when immigration officers at Kochi airport intercepted him on suspicion of involvement in an organised organ trafficking network. A police investigation that followed led to the arrests of Sajith and Bellankonda Ram Prasad, a native of Vijayawada.

According to officials, the arrest of Jayakumar has helped the NIA uncover details of the network’s operations in Iran, including information about individuals who were taken abroad and subjected to transplant procedures.