Cops trade blame over kidney kingpin's escape

Mon, Jan 28 11:00 PM

Gurgaon: The Gurgaon police on Monday put the blame on Moradabad police, saying the mastermind of the kidney racket managed to escape due to lack of coordination between the two police units.

"The Moradabad police didn't let us know before conducting the raids. And this helped Dr Amit Kumar flee," Gurgaon Police Commissioner Mahinder Lal claims.

The charge came after Moradabad Police had on Saturday accused the Gurgaon police of giving the doctor an advance warning about the raids. While the Gurgaon police refuted the charge, a victim of the kidney racket and an eyewitness claimed the doctors at the clinic had tried to shift the 'patients' to another place before the police arrived.

"About half-an-hour before the police raided the place, they asked us to get dressed quickly and said they are in a hurry and are shifting us to another place. After 20 minutes the police arrived," Shakeel, a victim and eyewitness, said.

Dr Amit Kumar, the kingping of the biggest-ever illegal kidney transplant racket in the country, is believed to have fled the country, possibly to Nepal, immediately after the police busted the racket on Thursday night.

The Gurgaon police have conducted a series of raids in Noida, Gurgaon, Delhi, Faridabad and Meerut to trace the doctor. Police have also moved the CBI to get an Interpol red-corner notice issued against Dr Amit Kumar and his brother Dr Jeevan. The UP police too conducted raids in several places in Moradabad and Gurgaon, but drew a blank.

"Dr Amit has not gone to another country through a legal channel, meaning he has not gone through the immigration office. There are many border posts, which he might have crossed," the Gurgaon Police Commissioner claims.

Between the lines, Gurgaon police is saying that Dr Amit has escaped. But that did not stop them from trading charges with

"When the Moradabad Police arrived, they went and stood in front of the hospital and they did not have the presence of mind to think that the accused have another hospital and that a few of the men are outside," the Gurgaon police commissioner pointed out.

The police also said that private hospitals, including Delhi's Batra Hospital, could be involved in the scam, since post-surgery care for the victims took place in these hospitals.

The police has drawn a list of hospitals that may have had links with the kidney racket. Authorities at Batra Hospital, however, denied any sort of involvement in the racket. They say naming their hospital was a diversionary tactic adopted by the police.

The Gurgaon police has also revealed that the racket was far more widespread than previously believed and Amit's Greek girl friend was the tout for international deals.

The police have already sealed Dr Amit Kumar's residence and hospitals in which he performed more than 500 illegal kidney transplants.

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