Kumar allegedly claims making 200% profit

Kathmandu/New Delhi: Amit Kumar, the alleged mastermind of the kidney trade racket that has shocked India, was last evening brought to New Delhi from Kathmandu amid tight security and huge media attention.

Kumar alias Santosh Rameshwar Raut was taken to the Central Bureau of Investigations (CBI) headquarters for interrogation.

"It is still to be decided in which court we will produce Amit Kumar," CBI special director Madan Lal said.

CBI sources said a medical team including a psychiatrist was present at the headquarters for a health check-up of the accused.

A CBI team of two officials brought back the 43-year-old Ayurvedic doctor by an Air India flight to Indira Gandhi International Airport here at about 6:30pm.

CBI spokesman G. Mohanty said the speedy deportation was possible due to the agency's diplomatic ties with Nepal authorities.

Local laws

Earlier, Nepal handed Kumar over to the CBI team, revising an earlier decision to try him in Nepal for violating local laws.

Indian embassy officials in Kathmandu said Kumar, held in the custody of Nepal Police since his arrest from a holiday resort in southern Nepal on Thursday, was handed over to the CBI team that flew into Kathmandu soon after the arrest.

Nepal's surprise decision came under pressure from Indian authorities, officials in Kathmandu said.

Earlier, Nepal Police said Kumar would be produced in a Nepalese court today and charged with violating the Foreign Currency Regulation Act.

Kathmandu (IANS) Before he was caught, handcuffed and thrown into a police cell, alleged Indian kidney racket kingpin Amit Kumar lived a luxurious life, according to his own reported admission to Nepal Police.

He allegedly confessed that he used to make nearly 200 per cent profit from the illegal transplant procedures.

He also denied having links with the underworld or doing anything illegal. "I am a doctor by profession," the unfazed 43-year-old, who holds a diploma in Ayurveda and is not a qualified surgeon, told the police after being arrested from a holiday resort.

"I did people a service [through the transplants]. I ran the Star Max Life Care Hospital in Gurgaon in India's Haryana state," Kumar told police in his statement, a news report said yesterday.

"Transplanting kidneys is my main business. I have been doing this for 15 years."

According to Nepali tabloid Naya Patrika, Kumar told the Metropolitan Police's crime division that began interrogating him afresh on Friday that patients from the US, Canada and European countries used to come to his clinic for transplants.

"I have conducted about 300 transplants for patients from these countries," Kumar reportedly told the police. He said there were legal complications about kidney transplants. Several states had tight laws preventing such acts.

"In Haryana, the laws are slightly more lenient, which is why I opened my hospital there," he reportedly said.