Click to play videoNew Delhi: In the latest development in the kidney racket that was unearthed in Gurgaon last week, an Interpol red corner notice has been issued against the alleged mastermind of the kidney racket, Amit Kumar.
Interpol is looking into a possible Canadian connection to the illegal organ trade unearthed in Gurgaon. The police suspect that Amit Kumar is either in Canada or in Greece.
The Royal Canada Mounted Police (RCMP) are investigating reports on an Indian doctor with family connections in Canada. RCMP spokesperson, Sylvie Trembley confirmed that Interpol Ottawa is in touch with Interpol New Delhi on the case.
On Monday, Gurgaon Police Commissioner, Mohinder Lal had said that Kumar may have used his foreign contacts to escape.
Spread Over Seven States
The racket is believed to be spread over seven states including Jammu & Kashmir, Rajasthan, Haryana, Delhi and Maharashtra.
The Mumbai Police has even pointed to an underworld angle to the scam. They say that two men from underworld don Chhota Shakeel's gang tried to extort Rs 1 crore from Dr Amit's ex wife in 2007. Both the men had been arrested then.
Meanwhile, in a joint operation the Moradabad and Gurgaon Police have arrested another doctor from Alwar, Rajasthan, Dr K K Agarwal.
Sources have told CNN-IBN that Dr Aggarwal was involved in more than 150 operations with doctors involved in the kidney racket. The operations were mostly done for foreigners.
The Gurgaon Police are now intensifying their hunt for Amit Kumar. They want the court to declare him a proclaimed offender.
They have also revealed that a diagnostic centre in Greater Kailash was the main centre for testing purposes. The police are checking it out along with Batra and Apollo hospitals, where all the foreigners admitted are being verified. Another laboratory — the Focus Diagnostic lab — in Delhi is being checked out.
This follows the questioning of another key accused in the case, Dr Upendra.
4 Jaipur-based docs held
Police had reportedly detained five doctors on Thursday after several places in Haryana, Uttarakhand, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir and Delhi were raided.
Some of the doctors were questioned for their links to the other key accused in the case, Dr Upendra. Upendra was arrested this week and has confessed to knowing Amit Kumar.
However, he has denied any direct role in the kidney racket, saying that Dr Amit used to simply send patients to him for checkups.
Upendra also said that some doctors in Palval and Gohana in Haryana and Jaipur used to help him out, leading to the arrest of four doctors from Jaipur. He also told the police that he and his wife had over 100 bank accounts in their name.
ASP Moradabad, Manzil Saini said, "Upendra alleges that Amit Kumar and Jeevan Kumar were not really doctors. But even without degrees, they had become proficient in performing surgeries. That is why they used Upendra as a medium. He says he found them misusing letterheads and stamps made in his name."
Another accused, Linda Chin Hoi, a Manipuri nurse and an associtae of the alleged kingpin Dr Amit has corroborated Upendra's statement. She said that Amit and Jeevan used to conduct surgeries despite the fact that they were not qualified to do so.
Linda was arrested on Thursday. It was earlier thought that Linda was a foreign national but that was proved wrong as investigations progressed.
She was arrested from Ram Manohar Lohia hospital where she used to take care of patients post operations.
Family Reacts
Meanwhile, Amit Kumar's father says, "I had no clue about my son's involvement in a kidney racket and I felt bad after knowing the truth. He is not doing the right thing if he is involved in this."
Amit Kumar's brother, Dr Jeevan Kumar — another key accused in the case — is absconding. Jeevan Kumar's wife has been arrested, as has been his driver.
Police had raided Jeevan Kumar's in laws' residence in Gurgaon on Monday night from where they recovered foreign currency.
They raided two houses belonging to Amit Kumar in Sector- 56 and Sector-17, Gurgaon as well as a luxury guest house in Gurgaon and a hospital — both owned by Amit Kumar — and seized more incriminating documents.
Police say Amit Kumar owns two hospitals in Gurgaon under the banner of Liberty Health Care Pvt Ltd, located about five km apart. He used six luxury cars including a Mercedez Benz, and two fake names for executing the racket.
The Gurgaon Police are preparing a database about the previous record of Dr Amit Kumar that will throw light about his alleged illegal activities.
Ramadoss wants CBI probe in kidney racket
The Union Health Ministry has stated that it will seek a CBI inquiry into the matter. This has been recommended by the Haryana state government as well.
Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss on Tuesday stated that a CBI inquiry was essential because of the inter-state nature of the racket as well as the involvement of foreign nationals.
Dr Ramadoss was quoted by agencies as saying that the Government would bring in amendments to make the Organ Transplant Law simpler and to provide for stiffer punishment for racketeers.
The Health Ministry is recommending that the present punishment of few months to five years imprisonment be increased to two to seven years incarceration.
The revised legislation would also aim to bring more transparency in the organ donation, he was further quoted as saying.
The Government would also launch a National Organ Transplant Programme soon to popularise voluntary organ transplant among people.
"A major mass-media campaign will soon be organised in the country to bring about a behavioural change so that people are willing to donate organs," he was further quoted as saying.
The ministry was also planning to link the ORBO facilities among the metros so that more organs from brain dead people could be retrieved and made available for transplant among people needing it.
(With inputs from agencies)
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