Police Bust Doctor Heading Kidney Racket

Rogue MD from India found hiding in Nepal jungles
By Jason Farago,  Newser Staff
Posted Feb 8, 2008 9:58 AM CST
Police Bust Doctor Heading Kidney Racket
Mohammed Salim, 33, whose kidney was removed, recovers at city civil hospital, in Gurgaon, on the outskirts of New Delhi, India, Wednesday, Jan. 30, 2008. Salim is one of three people who were rescued by police from the illegal transplant racket that allegedly removed kidneys from up to 500 poor laborers...   (Associated Press)

An Indian doctor hiding out in the jungles of Nepal has been arrested, accused of heading the country's largest organ transplant racket. Hundreds of poor workers were hoodwinked into selling their kidneys, which Amit Kumar then offered to rich clients in India and abroad seeking a transplant. The doctor will be extradited to India, where he operates an illegal clinic, writes the Hindu.

Spotted by a hotel receptionist after a 2-week manhunt, the doctor told reporters he was falsely accused. "I am not running away, I am defending myself," Kumar said. At the clinic, more than 300 donors were allegedly paid up to $2,500 for their kidneys, while patients paid three to four times that to jump the transplant line.  (More India stories.)

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