Three persons, including a contractual employee of a blood bank, allegedly involved in illegal selling of blood units were arrested in Malda on Wednesday night.

Alok Rajoria, the superintendent of police, Malda, said that Sujit Roy, Moloy Kundu and Debabrata Dutta had been picked up from the blood bank premises of the Malda Medical College & Hospital.

“Preliminary investigations have revealed that Roy was a contractual employee of the blood bank at the MMCH and two others are his associates,” the police chief added.

Sources said the demand for blood in the district went too high during the second wave of the pandemic.

“On one hand, there was a high demand for blood and its components while on the other hand, less number of blood donation camps were held because of the Assembly polls and the pandemic. Altogether, the situation made the crisis formidable,” said Uttam Jha, secretary of the Malda District Voluntary Blood Donors’ Association.

“To take advantage of the crisis, a racket became active and unfortunately, with the help of people like Roy, who have access to the blood bank, they started illegally selling blood. It has been alleged that they have sold a unit of blood for Rs 2,000 to Rs 3,000,” Jha added.

Majibul Haque, in-charge of the blood bank of the MMCH, said that strong action would be taken against Roy, the contractual employee of the blood bank.

“A departmental enquiry has been ordered against the accused contractual staff,” Haque added.

The police said a probe had been initiated to find out details of the crime and also to trace other members of the racket.