A man was arrested on Wednesday night for allegedly using fake donor cards and forged requisition slips from hospitals to collect blood and plasma from the blood bank in Maniktala.
Police said Anupam Bhattacharjee, 30, would allegedly stock blood in his refrigerator at home in Shyampukur in north Kolkata and sell them to patients at a premium.
He has been arrested on charges of cheating, forgery, fraud and criminal conspiracy.
Requisition slips of several government and private hospitals in districts — which the police suspect are forged — and four units of plasma were seized when the cops raided his house on Wednesday
The matter came to light when senior officials of the Maniktala blood bank spotted the alleged fraud recently and reported the matter to the police.
According to the rule, people who need blood can either deposit donor cards at blood banks and get equivalent units of blood or bring people who will donate blood equivalent to the volume required.
They also need to carry a requisition slip from the hospital concerned — government or private — citing the need, against which the blood or plasma is released.
“Patients do not need to pay anything for the blood from the blood banks. Only a donor card or live donor is needed. In case the requisition is from a private hospital, a processing fee is charged,” an official said.
Bhattacharjee allegedly used fake donor cards and requisition slips to collect blood from the Maniktala blood bank, keep the pouches in the refrigerator at his north Kolkata home and sell them to patients in need at Rs 1,500 or more per unit, said a senior officer in Lalbazar.
The police said they had come across at least three cases during their probe where Bhattacharjee had “sold” blood to patients for Rs 1,500 a unit.
“The worst part is, according to the rule, blood pouches are preserved in refrigerators at blood banks at a particular temperature. The blood cannot be used unless that is done. But this man kept them in his domestic fridge with other food articles. There is an apprehension whether the blood he had sold to patients was at all safe,” said a senior officer in Lalbazar.
The police suspect there could be other people involved in this racket, who were helping Bhattacharjee get access to blood and plasma from the blood bank without raising any questions.
“There could be a racket. Bhattacharjee was forging donor cards to get blood for free from the blood bank and selling the blood to relatives of patients who need it urgently,” said an officer of Maniktala police station where a case has been started.
Officers said it was suspected that the racket was active at least for the past few months. The cops have reportedly got such evidence while investigating the case.