Pune, May 30 -- More than two years before he allegedly tampered with blood samples to help a Pune teenager escape drunk-driving charges in the infamous Porsche hit-and-run case, Dr Ajay Taware was sanctioning illegal kidney transplants with forged documents in his role as head of the organ authorisation committee. The former Sassoon General Hospital (SGH) medical superintendent, already in Yerawada Central Jail for his role in the high-profile crash on May 19, 2024, was arrested on Wednesday in connection with a 2022 kidney transplant racket that used fake identities and fraudulent paperwork to circumvent organ donation laws. Dr Taware was produced before a Pune court on Thursday and remanded in police custody till June 2, becoming the 17th person booked and eighth arrested in the kidney racket case. He faces charges of approving illegal transplants while heading the Regional Authorisation Committee for Organ Transplants (RACOT). "Taware's role has been established in misusing his position while giving approval to alleged kidney transplants in which forged documents were used and dummy donors and recipients were presented," the prosecution told the court while seeking seven days' custody. The case centres on a swap kidney transplant performed at Ruby Hall Clinic on March 24, 2022. The fraud unravelled five days later when a woman admitted as Sujata Amit Salunkhe - supposedly the wife of kidney recipient Amit Salunkhe - created a commotion at the hospital, claiming she was not his wife. The woman later identified herself as Sarika Gangaram Sutar, a 38-year-old widow from Kolhapur, who said she had been promised Rs.15 lakh to pose as Salunkhe's wife and donate her kidney. She never received the money. Under central government regulations, only close relatives such as spouses or blood relatives are eligible to donate organs in live transplants. To circumvent this rule, the couple allegedly enlisted racket masterminds Ravindra Rodge and Abhijit Gatane to forge documents presenting Sutar as the recipient's wife. Taware's role in the blood sample swap was exposed when the minor's sample was swapped at SGH with that of his mother. The casualty medical officer, Dr Shrihari Halnor (who is currently under magistrate custody), on instructions of Taware, threw the juvenile's blood sample in the dustbin. However, police had taken another blood sample of the juvenile for DNA testing and had sent that to another hospital for results, and the two doctors were unaware of that. The report from the other hospital revealed that the juvenile's blood report at SGH was manipulated as the DNA of both reports did not match. In the swap arrangement, Sutar donated a kidney to a 16-year-old girl from Baramati, while the girl's mother donated her kidney to Amit Salunkhe. A state government-appointed committee headed by former high court judge Sandip K Shinde, constituted in April 2022 to probe kidney transplant malpractices, has indicted Dr Taware and other RACOT members. "Prima facie, investigation has indicated financial deals in kidney transplants," assistant commissioner of police (Crime Branch) Ganesh Ingale said, adding that nine transplants took place during Taware's tenure as RACOT head. Following an investigation by a three-member committee led by Dr Sadhana Tayde, deputy director of Health Services, an FIR was registered on May 11, 2022, at Koregaon Park Police Station. Fifteen people, including Ruby Hall doctors and management, were booked under various IPC sections for cheating, forgery, and criminal conspiracy, along with violations of the Transplantation of Human Organs Act, 1994. Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime) Nikhil Pingale confirmed that a chargesheet has been filed against seven accused from Ruby Hall Clinic. "Evidence and statements confirm that fake identities and forged documents were used for the transplants approved under Dr Taware's chairmanship," he said. Eight other accused have secured bail, while one suspect, Bhau Sawant, who allegedly facilitated kidney transplants, remains at large. Ruby Hall Clinic has maintained that all protocols were followed. "The transplant was cleared by RACOT. At that time, there was no official online system to verify identity documents," said advocate Manjusha Kulkarni, the hospital's general manager (legal). She added that the hospital immediately informed police when inconsistencies were noticed during the discharge process....