Chennai: Police in Chennai say they have uncovered evidence of illegal trade in kidneys sold by poor fishermen and their families whose livelihoods were destroyed by the Indian Ocean tsunami two years ago.
Community leaders in Eranavoor village, just north of Chennai, admitted that about 100 people, mostly women, have sold their kidneys for Rs 40,000-Rs 60,000 since the December 26, 2004, disaster.
"We have launched a comprehensive investigation," Chennai Police Chief Letika Saran said on Tuesday.
"This appears to be a big racket and we are collecting the details of donors and the hospitals involved," said another police officer, who declined to be identified.
Some of the 1,800 families near the city of Chennai say fishing became impossible after their seaside village was washed away and they were moved about 12 km inland to Eranavoor.
"There were hardly two or three cases of a kidney sale in a year in our colony before the tsunami," president of the local fishermen's association Maria Selvam said.
More than 7,000 people were killed when giant waves smashed into the coast of Tamil Nadu.
While India was initially praised for its response to the disaster, non-government groups have since criticised the government for not providing adequate housing to the tens of thousands of people who survived but lost homes and livelihoods.
Among those who lost her house was 30-year-old Thilakavathy Agatheesh, who said she sold a kidney in May 2005 for Rs 40,000 in the hope of setting up a small restaurant - only to see her alcoholic former fisherman husband waste the money.
"I used to earn some money selling fish but now the post-surgery stomach cramps prevent me from going to work," she said.
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