Four persons arrested for possessing narcotics were found to have allegedly been involved in a kidney racket operated from a private hospital in the city.

The four including a couple were arrested from the city's Anandapur area, ACP (Crime) Vishal Garg said at the Kolkata Police headquarters at Lalbazar. "We have arrested four persons on the basis of an information that they were carrying drugs. During search, we recovered documents from them proving their involvement in a kidney racket operated from a private hospital," Garg said. Brown sugar weighing around 316 g with a market value of over Rs 3 lakh was allegedly seized from them yesterday.

The hospital, however, denied that any kidney racket was operating from its establishment. "With respect to reports on an alleged kidney racket, we would like to say that our documentation processes and procedures are among the best in the country," a spokesperson of the hospital said. Each kidney transplant is done with government clearances after due diligence, the spokesperson added. The arrested four were identified as Ashfaque Ahmed, the kingpin of the racket, Tehrul Islam, Baidyanath Burman and his wife Joshna.