Dr Horror's extradition soon, if request comes at political level

Kathmandu, Feb 9 (UNI) Though Nepal police was preparing to file cases against kidney scam kingpin Dr Amit Kumar, a senior police official has said ''Dr Horror'' may soon be extradited if a request came at political level.

At present, the Central Bureau of Investigation is pursuing Dr Kumar's extradition with the Government of Nepal through the Indian Embassy here.

Since the medic has an Interpol red corner notice pending against him, he could be extradited within the next few days, senior police officials were quoted by Kantipur as saying.

The Nepal police yesterday paraded Dr Horror before the media and said it would lodge three cases against him on Sunday, when he was produced in the court.

The mastermind behind the multi-crore human organ racket may initially be tried for offences related to foreign exchange rules violation.

Dr Kumar was arrested on Thursday with close aide Manish Singh from a Sauraha-based hotel in Chitwan district about 60 km from the Indian border town of Raxaul. Rs 9,36,000 in Indian currency, 1,45,000 euros and 18,900 US dollars were seized from the Indian doctor's possession.

''We have asked authorities concerned to deport him,'' said Gopal Baglay, spokesperson for the Indian embassy in Kathmandu.

Police said they would present Dr Amit before the Revenue Investigation Department on Sunday for remand to carry out further investigations into possession of unauthorised amounts of foreign currency.

Senior Superintendent of Police Upendra Kanta Aryal, chief of Metropolitan Police Crime Division, told mediapersons yesterday police may also file a case against Dr Amit under the Human Organs Transplant Act if he is found guilty of transplanting the kidneys of Nepali citizens.

If the 43-year-old doctor is convicted for illegal human organ transplant, he would have to serve a maximum of five years in prison apart from paying Rs 5 lakh in fine.

Authorities can also slap a four-year jail term and a fine equivalent to three times the unauthorized foreign currency recovered from him, for illegal possession of foreign currency.

Preliminary investigations have shown that Dr Amit came from Canada via Abu Dhabi to Nepal on December 30, 2007. He then went to India the next day via Sunauli and stayed there before finally returning to Kathmandu on January 26.

After Indian media carried reports that he was the kingpin of a kidney trafficking racket and was currently in Nepal, Dr Amit quietly slipped away to Chitwan in a taxi on February 5, police said.

''This time he came to Nepal to possibly fly to Canada after Indian police started searching for him,'' the SSP claimed. Before the kidney racket was exposed in India, Dr Amit was planning to set up a hospital in Nepal and was looking for a suitable location as per the suggestion of his brother Jiwan Kumar and his Nepali agent Pankaj Jha, according to police.

Investigations have also shown that Dr Amit had sent Yash Pal Sharma, an accountant employed at his Guragaon-based Star Max Life Care Hospital, to Kathmandu last year to buy Badri Nath Guest House in Gongabu, Kantipur reported.

Sharma had even made a verbal agreement to buy the property.

''However, the plan was aborted later as Dr Amit failed to pay the money on time,'' Mr Aryal said.

Talking to mediapersons, Dr Amit rebutted the allegations.

''That is wrong. That is absolutely wrong. I have not committed any crime,'' he said.

The SSP said Dr Kumar has confessed to having conducted more than 300 kidney transplants in India.

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