LAHORE Inside a bedroom-turned operation theatre in a 5-Marla rented house here on Friday afternoon there was an Indonesian, in his early 50s, lying on the bed next to a labourer from Kasur district of Punjab province. The foreigner had arrived in Lahore for renal transplantation while the labourer travelled to the City from Kasur to get his kidney removed, as the poor donor desperately needed money to meet his domestic needs. Exactly when a trained doctor and his team -- paramedics and an anesthesia specialist -- was preparing to remove the kidney out of the father of five, the Lahore police raided the 'hospital, located in the North Cantonment Area, and caught the big fish - the doctor, his staff and the foreigner. Hence, the City police successfully smashed the racket involved in the kidney trade. This sort of trade is banned in Pakistan under the Transplantation of Human Organs and Tissues Act 2009. During initial investigations, the criminals confessed that they used to pay only Rs 150,000 to the poor donors but received more than Rs 1 million from those who wanted to buy a kidney. In May 2007, when the Lahore police busted ten hospitals the impunity was all too apparent. At the time, there was no law that said that trade of this kind was illegal, police officers say. The hospitals had showed the police consent forms duly signed or stamped by so-called consenting donors. Therefore, the gangsters involved in the trade fought their case in the court and ultimately the accused went unpunished. But in November 2009, the National Assembly had unanimously passed the Act, banning citizens from donating body organs to foreigners. Now, those found involved in trafficking human organs could be punished with up to 10 years in jail and a fine of up to Rs 1 million. The government can also suspend the registration of doctors for three years for a first offence and permanently for repeated offences, according to the legislation. But despite this legislation, the illegal business is still flourishing as many more gangs are yet to be traced. With dozens of private hospitals across the country involved in this unscrupulous trade, Pakistan has become a hub for people seeking kidney transplantation from across the world particularly from Middle East countries including Kuwait, UAE, Qatar and Saudi Arabia. Reportedly, countrys kidney trade is a multi-million-dollar international business. The money earned by poor labourers is used for a variety of purposes including marriages, house building, loan repayments, and drug abuse or simply to have a good time. At a time when IGP Javed Iqbal is struggling to reform the traditional police culture in the province and to ensure visible change at grass root-root level, the Lahore Police have really caught the big fish. The IGP is also happy with the police for smashing the network involved in illegal and unethical human organs trade. DIG Operations Ghulam Mahmood Dogar is receiving appreciation from his immediate boss - CCPO Ahmed Raza Tahir. But he has done his job successfully as the case has been transferred to the Investigations Wing. It is learnt that Dr Sana Ullah, a senior surgeon at the government-owned Lahore General Hospital was the ringleader of this gang. The police are getting more information about the gangsters-cum-medical experts involved in the business and more arrests are expected in the near future. Police investigators have enough evidences to prove the accused as criminals before the honourable court. The police have caught the gang red-handed; they have solid evidences, eyewitnesses and the victims as well besides material proof in form of equipments and machinery recovered from the makeshift 'hospital. Will the investigators perform their job accurately and sincerely?, is a big question because of corruption and credibility of the lower subordinates serving in police stations. Such gangs are not only influential but also have good contacts with the people who matter in our society. They also keep sufficient currency notes in their suitcases not only to buy human organs but also to influence those who intervene in their businesses. Luckily, Javed Iqbal, a seasoned police officer with excellent reputation, is head of the Punjab police. He not only monitors the performance of senior officers but also keep vigilant eye on the happenings taking place under his supervision him. It is expected that the IGP will ensure merit-based investigations to bring the culprits to justice and to set an example for those running countrys 'kidney bazaars.