RAWALPINDI:
The FIA Anti-Corruption Circle in Islamabad has made a breakthrough against an illegal human kidney transplant ring by arresting two key suspects, with investigations revealing important new details.
Officials said FIA teams arrested senior constable Shabbir Hussain from Jalalpur Bhattian in Hafizabad district while his close associate and alleged sub-agent Ghulam Abbas was arrested from Khanewal in connection with case number 16 of 2026.
The suspects are accused of recruiting financially vulnerable people by luring them with small payments to act as kidney donors for an illegal organized transplant ring. Earlier, the FIA had also arrested Dr Nadir and members of his team in Islamabad for their alleged involvement in illegal kidney transplant procedures.
Ongoing investigations indicate that Dr. Nadir may have been involved in around 187 illegal kidney transplants, and further investigations are underway into multiple aspects of the case. Authorities said the network charged recipients between 6 million and 10 million rupees per transplant, while donors (mostly poor and disadvantaged people) were paid only a fraction of that amount.
Investigators further revealed that Shabbir Hussain, through sub-agents, targeted labourers, daily wage earners and other underprivileged groups in Punjab and Islamabad, convincing them to donate kidneys in exchange for financial incentives. He is suspected of providing more than 50 donors for Dr. Nadir.
The investigation has also discovered that the group allegedly used forged and fraudulent documents to obtain approvals from the Human Organ Transplant Authority (HOTA), without proper legal authorization from the relevant evaluation committee. The FIA is investigating this aspect to identify all persons involved in counterfeiting and regulatory violations.
Officials added that the network was not limited to Pakistani citizens, as it was also suspected of being involved in kidney transplants to Afghan, Chinese and Saudi citizens. The financial records and related data are currently under forensic and legal review.
Shabbir Hussain has a criminal record with multiple FIA cases registered against him, but he had previously managed to evade arrest. Officials described his capture as a major milestone in the national crackdown on the illegal organ trade.
The FIA said operations will continue against all facilitators, agents and financial sponsors involved in the network, and assured that all accused will be brought to justice through a legal process.
