The alleged mastermind of an organ transplant operation in India that illegally removed hundreds of kidneys -- sometimes from unwilling donors -- has been arrested at a jungle resort in southern Nepal, an official said yesterday.
The international manhunt for the fugitive doctor, Amit Kumar, 40, ended on Thursday night when Nepalese police arrested him in Chitwan, 160km south of Kathmandu, local police chief Kiran Gautam said.
He was found with US$230,000 in cash and a check for US$24,000
Local news reports said he was identified by a hotel employee who recognized him from Indian television broadcasts seen in Nepal.
Indian police say Kumar was the mastermind of an illegal organ trading operation based in Gurgaon, an upscale New Delhi suburb. Authorities believe up to 500 kidneys were sold to clients who traveled to India from around the world over the past nine years. Some unwilling donors -- often barely literate day laborers -- were held at gunpoint before their organs were harvested.
"That is wrong, absolutely wrong. I have not duped anybody," Kumar said when he was briefly faced reporters in Kathmandu.
"I can only say that I have not committed any crime," he said.
While the low cost of medical care in India has made it an increasingly popular destination for foreigners in need of everything from tummy tucks to heart surgery, the Gurgaon kidney transplant racket shocked the country, sparking debates about medical ethics and organ transplant laws.
Kumar has been accused in past organ transplant schemes elsewhere in India. Authorities said last month they believed he had fled the country, and Interpol was contacted for help.
The Times of India newspaper quoted Sriprakash Jaiswal, India's junior federal home minister, as saying he hoped Kumar would be extradited soon.
But Kumar, who was moved to Katmandu yesterday, will first be charged and tried in Nepal for violating the Foreign Currency Act by not declaring the cash he was carrying, and if he is convicted he could be jailed for up to four years, said Upendra Aryal, a top police officer.
Police were also investigating whether he was involved in illegal kidney transplants in Nepal, Aryal said.
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