Kidney racket kingpin Dr. Amit handed over to Indian authorities

Kathmandu, Feb 9 : Nepal today handed over kidney transplant racket kingpin Dr. Amit Kumar to Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) officials.

He now is expected to arrive in Delhi by a 6.45 p.m. flight today in which six seats have been reserved, sources here said.

Dr. Amit was arrested in Chitwan on Thursday evening and is wanted by Haryana and Uttar Pradesh police in connection with an inter-state and international kidney transplant scam.

Earlier, it was stated that he would appear before a court in Kathmandu on Sunday, but a deportation request made by Indian law enforcement officials has altered the sequence of events following the Nepal Government's acceptance of it.

Nepal Police had said earlier that it would lodge three cases against Dr Amit.e was presented before the public at Metropolitan High Commissioner Office on Friday and had also addressed a press conference.

Dr. Kumar has been accused of having forced or duped around 500 people, mostly from the underprivileged sections of society, into donating their kidneys.

Senior Superintendent of Police Upendra Kant Aryal, who is also the chief of Metropolitan Police Crime Division in Hanumandhoka, said that Nepal Police arrested Kumar along with one of his close aide, Manish Singh, from the Hotel Wildlife Camp at Sauraha near Kathmandu on Thursday evening. A bank draft for Indian rupees 936,000, and Euros 145,000 and USD 18,900 in cash were also seized from the arrested.

Dr Amit Kumar had been staying in different luxurious hotels in Nepal since his arrival in the country on January 26. Police said he had fled to Chitwan fearing his arrest after news about him started to spread.

He had come to Nepal with a project to construct a hospital. According to Police, he was helped by Nepalis- Ramesh Thapa, Bishnu Khatri, Giri dai, Heera Pun, Baburam, Sher Bahadur and Pankaj Jha.

During a press conference held here on Friday afternoon, Dr. Rawat admitted that he had performed around 300-400 kidney transplants with a team of four doctors

He also confirmed plans to shift his kidney organ trade network from India to Nepal with the help of his agent, Pankaj Jha. Three doctors, Amit Kumar, K K Agarwal and Upendra have been arrested while another medico Dr Saras, a resident of New Delhi is still absconding.

Kumar revealed that he went from Canada to Nepal on 30th December last year and then, came to India from Nepal to perform five kidney transplants. He left for Nepal on January 25. In Nepal, he stayed at various hotels and finally came to Sauraha hotel on February 6, where he was arrested.

Earlier, the Nepali Minister of State for Home Affairs, Ram Kumar Chaudhary disclosed that the operation was a joint effort of the Interpol and the Nepalese police. He informed that a lot of cash has also been recovered from him. "Euro nine lakh thirty six thousand worth of drafts, USD 1 lakh and forty five thousand along with some Nepali currency has been recovered."

Three mobiles with SIM cards of Canada, Nepal and India have also been recovered from him. Dr Amit said that he had not been using his mobile phones since the last three days and was using STD booths instead to contact his family. His family is in Canada, where he has also shifted a huge portion of his colossal wealth.

ANI