Kolkata:The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) of the Bengal govt arrested three laboratory technicians attached to Panskura Super Specialty Hospital for their involvement in a well-entrenched, illegal blood sales racket operating directly out of the facility’s blood bank.The law enforcement action follows the arrest of a middleman caught selling blood units illegally to desperate patients and their family members outside the hospital. Interrogation of the suspect exposed a deep-seated nexus operating between a network of touts and internal hospital staff, culminating in the apprehension of the three technicians who allegedly facilitated the fraudulent siphon of critical blood supplies.According to investigative authorities, the illegal operation had been functioning continuously for the past two years, capitalizing on systemic loopholes in the distribution of blood units. Touts operating around the medical facility routinely approached local clubs and voluntary organizations hosting blood donation drives across the region. Touts used to buy blood donor cards from various clubs and organisations conducting blood donation drives, reportedly paying around Rs 100–Rs 150 per card. By using these donor cards, the touts were able to obtain blood from the blood bank free of cost. The blood was subsequently sold to patients and their attendants for anything between Rs 1,500-2,000 per unit.The money received from the patients and their attendants was allegedly shared between the touts and the laboratory technicians.The illicit proceeds were systematically divided among the conspirators. Out of the revenue collected from each unit, the touts retained a commission of Rs 500, while the remaining balance was pocketed by the laboratory technicians in exchange for providing unauthorized access to the blood stock.While hundreds of cash transactions executed over the two-year operational lifespan of the racket remain untraceable due to lack of documentation, investigative sleuths successfully uncovered a distinct digital paper trail. Digital forensic checks revealed that the brokers transferred approximately Rs 1.40 lakh directly into the bank accounts of the three laboratory technicians via UPI transactions over a condensed seven-month period.The revelation of digital payments provided critical evidence substantiating the illegal collusion, prompting the Anti-Corruption Bureau to move forward with the formal arrests of the medical personnel.State investigative agencies are continuing their probing to ascertain whether senior hospital officials or external coordinators of blood donation camps were aware of or complicit in the illegal enterprise.
