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Although Amit Kumar publicly protested his innocence, Nepali police said the doctor had confessed to carrying out hundreds of kidney transplants in India. -- PHOTO: REUTERS
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NEW DELHI - AN INDIAN doctor accused of masterminding an illegal kidney transplant racket was deported to India on Saturday after an international manhunt ended with his arrest in Nepal.
The 43-year-old fugitive, Amit Kumar, who was the subject of an Interpol alert, was flown to New Delhi after being detained late Thursday at a hotel in southern Nepal.
He was taken into custody by detectives of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) immediately after landing in the Indian capital and whisked away from a waiting crowd of journalists for questioning.
Kumar was bundled out of a car and rushed into the CBI's offices in central New Delhi as police kept another group of journalists at bay.
Kumar is to go before a court on Sunday, the Press Trust of India news agency reported. If convicted, Kumar could face up to 10 years in prison, it said.
Kumar was using Nepal as a transit point and attempting to flee to Canada where he owns a home after the scam came to light last month, police said.
Earlier, senior Nepali police officer Upendra Kanta Aryal said that Kumar had 'been handed over to Indian authorities'.
'We deported him after there were orders from high-level officials,' Mr Aryal said.
India had said it hoped Nepal would hand over Kumar, who allegedly lured or forced hundreds of poor into giving up their kidneys and made millions by selling the organs to wealthy Indians and foreigners.
Kumar maintained his innocence at a news conference in Kathmandu on Friday.
At the news conference, police displayed several bundles of Indian and foreign currency they said amounted to over 200,000 dollars they seized from Kumar.
The alleged scam emerged last month when Indian police raided several hospitals and houses in Gurgaon, a wealthy New Delhi suburb.
Several intermediaries and hospital staff have been arrested in India over the past two weeks.
Under Indian law, live kidney transplants are allowed only if the organ is donated by a blood relative or spouse, or there is a swap agreement between two needy families. All transplants must also be cleared by the government.
But a huge gap between demand and supply of kidneys because of few body donations has resulted in a flourishing illegal trade.
Kumar's brother Jeevan Rawat, 36, is also the subject of an Interpol alert and is still being hunted. -- AFP
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