In a disturbing revelation from West Bengal’s North 24 Parganas district, a Trinamool Congress (TMC) worker named Shishir Karmakar has been arrested in connection with a kidney smuggling racket that preyed on the economically vulnerable. The case emerged from Ashoknagar, where locals have been left stunned by the horrifying nature of the racket.

Shishir Karmakar, who reportedly worked for a notorious moneylender and racket kingpin named ‘Sheetal’, was not alone in his activities. According to police sources, two other aides – Surjit Ghosh and Kalachand Das – were also part of this illegal operation. Karmakar, holding a government-assigned role as a health worker under the Ashokenagar Kalyangarh Municipality, misused this position to gain the trust of debt-ridden individuals. His job, tragically twisted, involved convincing these desperate people to sell one of their kidneys to settle their outstanding debts.

The primary job of the TMC worker is to exploit people in financial distress to earn extra money and clear their outstanding debts by selling one of their kidneys.

Such exploitation became possible because of his official post, allowing him access to sensitive health information and personal circumstances. This breach of trust is especially alarming, as it not only violated the ethics of healthcare work but also exposed a dark nexus between political workers and criminal financial operators.

Investigations further revealed that Karmakar had previously served as an election agent for the TMC in Ward No.9 of the Ashokenagar Kalyangarh Municipality, suggesting that his connection to the ruling party was not a one-off. However, the TMC leadership was quick to distance itself from the scandal. “The TMC has cried foul over the matter and claimed that the accused in the kidney smuggling racket was never associated with the party.”

The racket began to unravel when police received a critical tip-off on June 14, 2025, suggesting that a kidney transplant clearance had been fraudulently obtained at the State level, even after being rejected by district authorities. This discrepancy prompted a deeper investigation, which exposed layers of corruption and negligence in the system. Following the tip-off, Ashoknagar police conducted a raid and arrested the three initial suspects: Shishir Karmakar, Surjit Ghosh, and Kalachand Das.

Authorities were shocked to find that the group had managed to obtain official clearance for certain kidney donations at the State level, despite local-level objections. This pointed to a probable breakdown in administrative integrity, or worse, deliberate facilitation of the illegal racket by individuals in higher offices.

“Karmakar leveraged his position as a health worker to gain the trust of victims, convincing them to sell their kidneys to clear debts.” In one heart-wrenching case, a woman was forced to part with her kidney just to repay a high-interest loan, painting a stark image of how coercive and predatory the operation had become. Meanwhile, Surjit Ghosh and Kalachand Das were found to be the muscle behind the operation, collecting payments and threatening victims on behalf of Sheetal, the main kingpin.

As the investigation progressed, three more individuals were taken into custody, bringing the total arrests to six. The police, realizing the scale and complexity of the case, have since filed two separate FIRs, pointing toward the possibility of a larger and more deeply rooted kidney trafficking network operating in the region.

As of June 17, 2025, the investigation remains active, with law enforcement trying to trace the full breadth of the operation and identify every individual involved.

The political fallout has been immediate. BJP leader Dilip Ghosh took to X (formerly Twitter), launching a scathing attack on the TMC. He alleged that this incident is not isolated but part of a much larger trend of corruption and misgovernance under TMC rule. His post, now viral, highlighted the kidney racket along with previous alleged scams involving coal, housing, and employment. This sentiment has been echoed widely online. “Other X posts, such as those by @BanglaRepublic, echoed the political critique, questioning TMC’s involvement in kidney smuggling after other controversies.”

The scandal, involving abuse of power, economic exploitation, and human rights violations, has sparked outrage in Bengal and beyond. With more arrests likely, the state now waits to see whether justice will be served—or if this too will be buried beneath the political storm.