India’s Indraprastha Medical Corp (IMCL.NS), which manages two Apollo hospitals in the national capital of Delhi, said on Tuesday allegations regarding its involvement in illegal kidney transplants are false.

UK’s Telegraph newspaper reported on Saturday that Apollo was embroiled in a “cash for kidneys” racket in which impoverished people from Myanmar were being enticed to sell their organs for profit.

The newspaper said it first learned of the racket through a case at the Indraprastha Apollo, which is the Apollo Hospitals Group’s flagship hospital in Delhi.

Indraprastha Medical also operates the Apollo Hospital in Noida, which is part of the National Capital Region (NCR).

“The allegations made in the recent international media against IMCL are absolutely false, ill-informed and misleading,” Indraprastha Medical said in a statement.

Apollo Hospitals Group, in response to a Reuters request for comment, said they agreed with IMCL’s statement.

The Delhi government will initiate an investigation into the allegations, CNBC-TV 18 reported, citing sources.

Reuters could not independently verify CNBC’s report.

“As part of corporate governance policy, IMCL has initiated an inquiry into the matter to delve into all aspects of the transplant process,” IMCL said in a separate statement.

IMCL neither seeks unrelated donors nor its representatives are authorised or instructed to find unrelated donors for kidney patients, the company added.

IMCL earlier said its patients and donors undergo several medical tests, including genetic testing, as part of a transplant procedure.

Pritam Pal Singh, the Delhi government’s media coordinator, told Reuters he was unaware of any such investigation at the moment, while Delhi Health Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj did not immediately respond to Reuters’ requests for comment.

The National Organ and Tissue Transplant Organisation (NOTTO), which falls under the health ministry, has asked Delhi Health Secretary S B Deepak Kumar to “get the matter examined, take appropriate action … and furnish an action-taken report within a week”, according to a letter seen by Reuters.

A committee was being formed to probe the matter and details of donors and patients have been sought from the hospital, Kumar told local media. Reuters was unable to reach Kumar.

Apollo Hospitals did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

Indraprastha Medical Corp (IMCL.NS), an associate of Apollo which manages its two hospitals in the capital region of Delhi, said it had initiated an inquiry into the matter and called the allegations against it “absolutely false, ill-informed and misleading”.

A report in Britain’s Telegraph accused Apollo of being embroiled in a “cash for kidneys” scandal in which young villagers from Myanmar were being flown to its Delhi hospital and enticed to sell their kidneys to rich Burmese patients.

The Myanmar government did not respond to Reuters request for comment.

Chennai-based chain Apollo, which runs over 70 hospitals across India, performed 1,641 solid organ transplants in 2022, according to company data. The hospital also treats foreign patients who fly into India.