Lucknow, Aug 28 - Contaminated and sub-standard blood was being administered to patients by some private blood banks suspected to be involved in a major racket busted by the Uttar Pradesh Police, sources said.

This was revealed in a report submitted to the government by the Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences (SGPGIMS) here Friday.

Six people, including an anaesthetist from the state-run Balrampur Hospital, were arrested in connection with the racket, being run with the connivance of several well-known private blood banks and doctors.

A detailed examination of the blood, seized by the authorities from a private nursing home run illegally by a government doctor had revealed that very poor quality blood with extremely low levels of haemoglobin was being supplied to patients in different hospitals.

Most of the samples were found to be have a mere 4-5 gm of haemoglobin, while some of the samples were found to be infected, according a source.