Pune: Sassoon Hospital’s Dr Ajay Taware Arrested in 2022 Kidney Transplant Scam
Pune, 30th May 2025: In a fresh twist to the 2022 kidney transplant racket at Ruby Hall Clinic, Pune police arrested Dr. Ajay Taware—former head of the forensic medicine department at Sassoon General Hospital—on Wednesday night. He was taken into custody from Yerawada Central Jail, where he was already lodged in connection with the high-profile Porsche crash case.
Dr. Taware, who once held dual roles as the head of Sassoon’s Regional Authorisation Committee (RAC) for organ transplants and the hospital’s medical superintendent, is accused of approving illegal kidney swaps involving fake identities and forged documents.
The arrest was made based on findings from a state-appointed five-member inquiry panel set up by the Maharashtra health department in 2022. The panel, led by then Deputy Director of Health for the Nashik region, Dr. Raghunath Bhoye, had held Dr. Taware and four other RAC members accountable for gross procedural violations.
“We acted on the committee’s report, which clearly pointed to deliberate misuse of official position by Dr. Taware and others in facilitating an unlawful kidney transplant,” said Assistant Commissioner of Police (Crime) Ganesh Ingale, who is leading the investigation.
Taware had been under arrest since May 27, 2024, as a co-accused in the blood sample tampering case related to the fatal Porsche Taycan crash. His role in the organ transplant case, however, remained under review until recently.
When questioned about the delay in arresting Taware in the transplant case, Police Commissioner Amitesh Kumar said, “We revisited the file, conducted a detailed legal review, and decided to proceed with the arrest based on the available evidence.”
On Thursday afternoon, Taware was produced before Judicial Magistrate First Class S.R. Badve, who remanded him in police custody till June 2 for further interrogation.
