Court grants NIA custody of prime accused in Iran organ trafficking case

Kochi, Dec 15 (PTI) A court here on Monday granted custody of the prime accused to NIA in a case relating to the alleged trafficking of people to Iran for organ harvesting.

NIA Court judge Hafees Mohammed granted custody of prime accused Madhu Jayakumar of Vattathipadam, Palarivattom, who was recently arrested after arriving from abroad.

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) had moved the court seeking Jayakumar’s custody for further interrogation as part of its detailed probe.

Considering the plea, the court granted NIA custody of Jayakumar for three days till December 17.

Jayakumar has also filed a bail application, which is scheduled to be considered by the court on December 17.

Last month, the NIA had interrogated Jayakumar in custody for seven days in connection with the case.

Apart from Jayakumar, the other accused in the case are Sabith Korukulath Nasar, Sajith Syam and Bellamkonda Ram Prasad.

According to the NIA, the accused had allegedly sent donors from various parts of the country to Iran for organ harvesting and later facilitated the travel of recipients from India to Iran for organ transplantation. PTI TBA TBA ROH