₹7,000 charged for one unit blood in Satna:Bhaskar sting exposes illegal syndicate; HIV positive blood allegedly supplied through record tampering

A complete syndicate of illegal blood buying and selling is operating in Satna. It exploits the helplessness of needy people seeking treatment, openly charging 5,000 to 7,000 rupees for one unit of blood. Not only this, for a few rupees, even HIV positive blood is being traded by manipulating hospital records. Dainik Bhaskar’s investigation revealed that from ward boys who clean the hospital to paan stalls on the roadside outside… brokers are active everywhere. In a few hours, they turn any unknown professional donor into a ‘fake relative’ of the patient and get them inside the blood bank. These provide 2,000 units of blood annually from professional donors in Satna district. Satna’s CMHO Dr. Manoj Shukla, said – Professional blood donors will be identified, and action will be taken. Bhaskar Sting… From cleaners to paan stalls, the entire syndicate is active Live-1… Hospital cleaner himself is a blood broker Date: May 11, Time: 10 PM to 10:05 AM on May 12. Deal: Suraj, a cleaner at the district hospital, demands ₹5,000 for blood without a donor. On the morning of May 12, he brings a donor named Deepak. Donor Deepak directly demands ₹7,000 for one unit of blood in front of the public water cooler in the hospital premises. Live-2… The hospital in charge will tell – how much it will cost Location: May 12, 6:45 PM, Hanuman Temple in front of the District Hospital. Deal: The Bhaskar reporter, citing an emergency, spoke to Lala Pandit, who runs a tea stall. Lala Pandit said – ‘Ever since the HIV case came up, we have been stunned for 6 months. It’s normal blood; it will be done inside (the hospital) with some give and take. Ashish Tiwari is the in-charge inside; he will get it done. He will tell how much they take.’ Live-3… The ambulance driver called, and paan seller Qadir Mian arranged for blood from Rewa for ₹5,000 Date: May 13 and 14, Birla Hospital Tiraaha. Deal: Ambulance driver Vinod Tiwari takes the reporter to paan shop owner Kadir Mian. Kadir finalizes the deal at ₹5,000 per unit. Two and a half hours after taking ₹5,000 cash from the reporter on the afternoon of May 14, Kadir delivers ‘O positive’ blood. This blood is brought by a boy named Abhay Singh from Rewa’s ‘Shri Atharvan Blood Center’, packed in a polybag on a bike. Bhaskar Expert – Dr. L.K. Tiwari, Former CMHO, Satna 2200 units of illegal blood consumed annually in Satna under the guise of ‘exchange system’ Approximately 12,000 units of blood are given to patients annually from District Hospital and Birla Hospital. 50% of this blood comes from donation camps, while the remaining 50% is collected through the ‘Blood Exchange System’ (blood for blood). This system has the biggest loophole. Instead of donating blood themselves, caregivers present professional donors through brokers, claiming them as their ‘fake relatives’. There is no robust system at the hospital level to verify relationships. Professional donors are prohibited by rules, but in Satna, approximately 2000 to 2200 units of blood are being collected from these very donors every year.
Validity expired 8 months ago, yet continued to distribute expired blood Along with government hospitals, a horrifying truth about the private ‘Birla Blood Center’ has also come to light. According to documents, the license validity of Birla Blood Center had already expired on August 8, 2024. Despite this, due to the benevolence of officials, not only did blood supply continue from here, but expired blood units were also distributed, disregarding rules and standards. Responsibility of ‘Surya Charitable’ in 33 districts, are the remaining 32 also at risk? The operation of Satna Blood Bank is in the hands of Mumbai’s ‘Surya Charitable organisation’. Records from the State Blood Transfusion Council indicate that the MP government has entrusted the operation of blood banks in 33 districts to this very organisation. Following this horrific fraud, manipulation of records, and playing with the lives of innocents that came to light in Satna, a big question mark has now been raised over the security arrangements of blood banks in the remaining 32 districts as well. Biggest revelation in the case of transfusing HIV-infected blood to 4 children in Satna HIV-infected blood transfused to children by changing ‘Positive’ to ‘Negative’ with a pen. A shocking revelation has come to light in Dainik Bhaskar’s investigation regarding the case of 4 children being transfused with HIV-infected blood in Satna in December 2025. In the blood bank records, blood that tested ‘HIV Positive’ was overwritten with a pen to show ‘Negative’. Subsequently, the same blood was transfused to patients. Documents obtained by Bhaskar indicate that this is not just negligence, but a serious case of tampering with records. The blood bank staff knew that the blood was infected, yet it was kept in the system. It was after this that HIV-infected blood reached 4 innocent children suffering from thalassemia. 14 HIV infected donors found, 9 missing The investigation also revealed that between January 2024 and March 2025, 14 donors were found to be HIV infected. According to the rules, they were supposed to be sent to an ART centre, but only 5 reached there. The remaining 9 infected donors are now completely missing from the system. The health department has neither their correct address nor information on whether they are donating blood again elsewhere. Those listed as donors, did not donate blood A major fraud also came to light during the investigation of the register. Out of those whose names were registered as donors in the record, 6 stated that they had never donated blood. Many mobile numbers were found to be switched off or incorrect, while the addresses also turned out to be fake. Not only this, without proper examination, many donors were declared ‘fit’ by showing their haemoglobin to be more than 12 g/dl.