KIDNEY TRANSPLANT RACKET
New Delhi raises kidney doctor’s extradition issue with Kathmandu
Express News Service
Posted online: Saturday, February 09, 2008 at 0008 hrs Print Email
New Delhi/ Kathmandu, February 8: A day after Dr Amit Kumar, suspected kingpin in the kidney racket, was arrested in Nepal, New Delhi on Friday took up the issue of his deportation with Kathmandu.
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“The matter has been taken up by the CBI with Nepal’s government through our embassy in Kathmandu,” said MEA spokesman Navtej Sarna. “Given the nature of the case and the close cooperation that exists between legal and security authorities of India and Nepal, we expect that Dr Amit will be handed over to the Indian authorities at the earliest possible,” he added.
India doesn’t have a valid extradition with Nepal at present. According to sources, the old extradition agreement between the two countries has lapsed. While the negotiations on the new treaty have concluded, it hasn’t been signed yet.
But Minister of State for Home Affairs Sriprakash Jaiswal said getting Kumar's custody would not be a problem. “I hope he will be extradited soon. We have very cordial relations with Nepal and there will be no need of any extradition treaty,” he said.
Meanwhile, Kumar, who was presented before the media in Kathmandu today, claimed that he was innocent. “I have not committed any crime. The allegations against me have been cleared in court,” he said. “I am just a doctor, not a kidney dealer. I will reveal all the truth by organising a press conference after my release,” he added.
The Nepalese police said Kumar claimed that he came to Nepal from Canada on December 13 and the next day he left for India by road. He returned to Kathmandu on January 26 by road and stayed at Hotel Radisson in Lazimpat till January 29. He then stayed at hotels in Thamel till February 5, when he left for Chitwan by taxi.
CBI is expected to prepare a dossier on Kumar, in the form of a chargesheet, which will be produced before the court in Nepal on Sunday. Nepalese authorities are also expected to charge him with possessing foreign currency beyond legal limit.
When Kumar was nabbed from a jungle resort at Chitwan, near the Indo-Nepal border, on Saturday, he was found to be carrying bank drafts of more than nine lakh in Indian currency, over one lakh in Euros and US$ 18,900 in cash.
Sources said while efforts will be made to get Kumar at the earliest, the judicial procedure in Nepal may take more time than expected -- anything between a week to a month. Both the CBI and Haryana police teams are scheduled to leave for Nepal to bring him to India once the extradition process is completed.
Certain sections of the Nepalese media have been linking Kumar to a kidney racket in Kathmandu as well. However, the nephrology society of Nepal has denied Kumar's association with any of the private hospitals saying “Only Bir Hospital (government hospital) in Kathmandu is legally permitted to transplant kidney and no other hospitals have the equipment and right for that”.
