Rawalpindi-Twenty-four persons including four women, who were recovered by police from clutches of kidney racket, have recorded their statements before a court of law here yesterday.

The court will also begin hearing the post-arrest bail pleas of four men arrested in connection with alluring and detaining people for kidney theft today (Thursday).

Meanwhile, the police sealed Kidney Center at Morgah following orders of Area Magistrate Muhammad Mudassir.

According to SP Saddar Circle Iftikharul Haq, the owner and doctors at Kidney Center had allegedly been involved in illegal transplantation of kidneys and police sealed the hospital. He said efforts are being made to arrest the hospital owner and other gang members.

On the other hand, police produced the case record in the court of Judicial Magistrate Naveed Iqbal Tarar who recorded statements of 24 recovered persons under section 164 of criminal procedure code (CrPc).

The judicial magistrate was recording the statements of the recovered person till filing of this report. However, two of the 24 person had earlier informed The Nation that they were brought to Rawalpindi from different areas of Punjab on the promise of providing lucrative jobs. They were, however, detained at the basement of a plaza where their different medical tests were carried out and they were informed that they had to donate one of their kidneys.

On the other hand, Zafar Iqbal, owner of Al-Rehman plaza where 24 persons were allegedly detained, Faqeer Hussain, the driver of kidney racket, Shehzad Qayyum alias Shani and Balqees Bibi, both alleged facilitators, have moved the court of Magistrate Waqar Mansoor Baryar for post-arrest bails. The accused were arrested on October 15 from a plaza at a private housing society.

In their petitioners they filed through Advocate Raja Imran Aziz, the accused had maintained that there was no evidence against them that they either detained 24 persons or stole kidney of any of them.

The accused further noted that Rawat police under the law could not register the case against them as no monitoring authority or an individual had filed complaint against them.

The court was to take up the bail pleas on Wednesday but could not as the police record of the case was not available.