Court issues production warrant against kidney racket kingpin

NEW DELHI, Oct 17:
A court here has sought production of Amit Kumar, the alleged kingpin of a kidney transplant racket, before it in a money laundering case after the police again failed to produce him in the court.
District Judge P S Teji issued the production warrant for November 22 against Amit, who is currently lodged in Ambala Central Jail in another case, after the police failed to produce him in the court for the third time.
The police told the judge that it could not produce Amit in the Delhi court as he had to be produced in a court in Haryana’s Panchkula in some other case on the same day.
“Accused Amit Kumar has not been produced from Central Jail, Ambala. Now, matter is adjourned to November 22, 2012 for prosecution evidence. Let production warrants of the accused Amit Kumar be issued for the date fixed,” the court said.
The court is recording prosecution evidence in the case registered against Amit by Enforcement Directorate (ED) for allegedly violating foreign exchange laws and stashing black money abroad.
The multi-crore rupee scandal had surfaced in January 2008 when police arrested several people for running a kidney transplant racket in Gurgaon. Amit was arrested in Nepal in February 2008.
ED, in its charge sheet filed through Special Public Prosecutor Naveen K Matta, has said Amit and his accomplices used to charge Rs 12 to 15 lakh on average from the native organ recipients and USD 25,000 to USD 30,000 from foreign clients.
ED has accused them of stashing an undisclosed amount in foreign banks.
Besides Amit, his brother Jeevan Kumar, his three aides Raghuvinder Singh, Rajiv Chanana and Sanjay Gupta are also facing trial in the court for the same offence.
Alleging that a substantial portion of illegally earned money of the accused has been invested in movable and immovable properties abroad, ED had said it has also managed to attach their properties in Australia in June last year.
ED had said Amit, along with Jeevan Kumar, hatched a criminal conspiracy with other accomplices and by alluring innocent poor people, they fraudulently removed their kidneys through surgical operations. The removed organs were given to recipients for a huge monetary consideration.
While framing charges against Amit earlier, the court had said there was prima facie evidence that he used to perform illegal kidney surgeries on the victims arranged by his associates. (PTI)