Thiruvananthapuram: As a Crime Branch probe into a well-entrenched organ trade mafia is on in Kerala, Malayalam

filmmaker Sanal Kumar Sasidharan has come out with a few chilling revelations about the mysterious death of his niece apparently due to Covid-19. He suspects mafia hand in the death of the 40-year-old at the Neyyattinkara Taluk hospital last week. In a social media post he detailed the circumstances about her death and the shady role of the police, especially at the morgue, which strengthened his fears.

The film director made the startling allegation in a Facebook post. He has demanded an immediate high- level probe into the issue alleging that the police were trying to destroy evidence.

Sanal recalls

His version about the incident: "My niece (uncle’s daughter) Sandhya, 40, died on November 7. After recovering from Covid-19 and returning to her in-laws house, her condition worsened all of a sudden. She was admitted to the Neyyattinkara Taluk Hospital.

Sandhya's brother Radhakrishnan was informed about the death only later. Suspecting foul play, her brother asked for a postmortem examination. Her Covid test result was also negative.

I accompanied Radhakrishnan when the police were examining the body. No doctor was present at the time of examination, the Facebook post states.

Her right wrist had an injury mark, there were blood marks below the left eye and scars on the neck. When I demanded that injury marks on the body should be photographed, the police forcefully took me out of the mortuary. Later when they came out, I insisted and got the photographs clicked. Even though they claimed that all information including injury marks have been included in the inquest report, the cops refused to read out the details.

When Radhakrishnan was asked to sign on a blank paper, we opposed. Subsequently the sub-inspector tried to push us out of the area. Even after I spoke to Neyyattinkara DySP, the cops refused to show us the report. It was only after Neyyattinkara Circle Inspector reached the spot and directed the cops to include the suspicious marks in the report that the body was sent to the Medical College Hospital for post mortem, reads the filmmaker's post.

The tests conducted at the Medical College revealed that Sandhya was Covid positive. In that case how did the test conducted in Neyyattinkara taluk hospital turn negative? Sanal wondered.

Twist in the tale

The Facebook post further hints that Sandhya could have been lured much earlier by the kidney racket.

Sanal writes: Later we came to know that Sandhya had sold her liver for Rs 10 lakh to a person. Nobody including her husband and brother were aware of the issue till the surgery got over at a private hospital in Ernakulam. Without informing anyone Sandhya had reached the hospital in Ernakulam and called her daughter who was doing a nursing course.

Sandhya apparently got a consent letter from her daughter for donating the organ. Her daughter says she had threatened to commit suicide if she revealed the matter to anyone.

Sandhya was suffering from cardiac and kidney problems. When asked how such a person could be subjected to organ extraction surgery, the daughter said the doctor had then stated that there was no complication in the surgery carried out in the hospital. It is difficult to believe that Sandhya, an illiterate, could reach Ernakualm all by herself.

There is a doubt that her other organs could also have been sold. If the body is cremated without postmortem examination then all the evidence will be destroyed. This death has taken place under mysterious circumstances at a time when the Crime Branch is carrying out an intensive probe based on the reports that organ racket is active in Kerala," the post further says.

Sanal Kumar is the director of a number of acclaimed movies including “Ozhivu Divasathe Kali" which bagged the state award for best film of 2015.