Agencies
New Delhi, Jan 31:
Moradabad Police is probing links with Batra and Apollo hospitals and a laboratory called the Focus Diagnostic lab in Delhi. This follows the questioning of another key accused in the case, Dr Upendra.
Police say four doctors arrested in the Jaipur kidney racket were also involved in the scandal. Dr Upendra was also named in the FIR filed in 2000 in Jaipur.
Upendra has allegedly confessed to his relations with Dr Amit Kumar, but has denied any direct role in the kidney racket. He has said Dr Amit used to send patients to him for checkups.
Police have also sent two teams to Uttarakhand and Jammu %26 Kashmir as part of the investigation. Police teams are already probing links in seven states.
Three people have been arrested in connection with the case. Those arrested include a Manipuri national named Linda, who is said to be a nurse and a close associate of the prime accused Dr Amit Kapoor. It was earlier thought that Linda was a foreign national but that was proved wrong as investigations progressed.
Linda has confessed that Amit and Jeevan used to conduct surgeries despite the fact that they were not qualified to do so.
She was arrested from Ram Manohar Lohia hospital, where she worked as a nurse and used to take care of patients post operations.
The wife of another key accused - brother of Dr Amit Kumar, absconding doctor Dr Jeevan Kumar - and his driver have also been arrested.
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."
Meanwhile, Amit Kumar's father says, "I had no clue about my son's involvment 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."
Moradabad SSP Prem Prakash has stated that they are getting information regarding associates of Dr Amit and the places that he had worked in earlier.
"We were told by Upendra that Amit Kumar was likely to move to Canada, his wife is in Canada. Whenever we get information we are try and verify it. The focus is on arresting Amit Kumar," he said.
International Connection
The Interpol is looking into a possible Canadian connection to the illegal organ trade unearthed in Gurgaon last Thursday.
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 Kumar may have used his foreign contacts to escape.
SSP Moradabad, Prem Prakash added that Dr Amit could be in Canada.
"It is not confirmed yet whether he is in Canada. We are investigating the matter. CBI is nodal agency for interacting with Interpol. Once we will get the police custody we will go in for a narco-analysis request," he said.
The Moradabad Police say that they will be looking into passenger records at the International Airport Delhi from January 24 to January 26 to try and trace Kumar's whereabouts.
"We are not ruling out the possibility that he may have escaped abroad by using his contacts. However, he will not be able to escape the legal channels," Mohinder Lal said.
He said the police was coordinating with various Agencies
to catch Kumar.
"We are not going to let him have an easy run for long. A man accused of being involved in 500 illegal transplants will not be allowed to go scotfree and we will track him down soon," he added.
Police have circulated photographs of Kumar and his accomplices, and airports across the country have been alerted.
Prime accused were not even surgeons
Police now say the prime accused in the racket were not allopathic doctors. Amit Kumar's (the key accused) brother's wife told the police this. Kumar's brother, Jeevan Kumar is a co-accused in the scam.
Police had raided her residence in Gurgaon on Monday night. She told police that both Jeevan and his brother Amit were only bachelor degree holders in Ayurvedic Medicine and Surgery.
Haryana Police raided two more houses belonging to Amit Kumar in Sector- 56 and Sector-17, Gurgaon. They also raided the home of Jeevan Kumar's in-laws', from where they recovered foreign currency.
They have also raided a luxury guest house in Gurgaon owned by Amit Kumar as a hospital and seized more incriminating documents. Another shady hospital in Ballabhgarh was also raided.
He owns two hospitals in Gurgaon under the banner of Liberty Health Care Pvt Ltd, located about five km apart, both of which were raided on Sunday.
According to police sources, Kumar used six luxury cars including a Mercedez Benz, and two fake names for executing the racket.
Five foreign tourists, who had allegedly come for kidney transplants were found in Amit Kumar's "luxury guest house" on Saturday.
Mohinder Lal said the Gurgaon Police are preparing a database about the previous record of Dr Amit Kumar that will throw light about his alleged illegal activities.
Meanwhile, the Moradabad Police have sought seven-day custody of the another key accused Dr Upendra. They have also asked for permission to conduct a narco-analysis test on Dr Upendra.
The police also say that another accused Dr Upendra, who is currently in custody, has confessed that some doctors in Palval and Gohana in Haryana and Jaipur used to help him out.
Dr Upendra reportedly confessed that he and his wife have over 100 bank accounts.
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