A man accused of masterminding an illegal transplant ring that allegedly harvested hundreds of kidneys from poor men and women in India has been linked to a southern Ontario home, according to published media reports.
Amit Kumar is the subject of an Interpol arrest warrant for "crimes against life and health," according to the international police agency's website.
(Interpol)
Indian investigators allege Amit Kumar, dubbed Dr. Horror by Indian newspapers, had false passports for Nepal and Canada, and has escaped arrest numerous times.
The Toronto Star reported on the weekend that Kumar was living in a home in a quiet suburb of Brampton, just north of Toronto, with his wife and two children.
A security gate has been installed outside the home in the last few days, the CBC's Nil Koksal reported on Monday from the neighbourhood.
Kumar is not a qualified doctor, but is alleged to have overseen the removal of kidneys from up to 500 poor labourers for sale to wealthy patients, Mohiner Lal, police commissioner for the New Delhi suburb of Gurgaon, told CBC News on Monday.
The patients are believed to be among the many willing to pay high sums of money to receive needed organs immediately and avoid waiting lists for transplants in their home countries.
Police broke up the alleged ring on Jan. 24 after they discovered a room fully equipped with surgical supplies in an upscale home in Gurgaon, Lal said. The clinic was set up without authorization and there are reports of at least three patients dying, he added.
When asked about reports the victims were forced to give up their kidneys at gunpoint, the police commissioner replied: "Yes, maybe."
A doctor and several other people were arrested and several computers were seized. But Kumar evaded capture, which has led to speculation in the Indian media that he was somehow tipped off to the raid ahead of time.
Interpol has issued a worldwide "red notice" for Kumar calling for his immediate arrest for "crimes against life and health," according to the international police agency's website.
Speaking on behalf of Interpol, RCMP Sgt. Sylvie Tremblay told CBCNews.ca on Monday that the agency's Ottawa bureau is working closely with its counterpart office in India and local agencies to "validate any information" on the case.
But Tremblay would not comment on whether investigators believe Kumar is currently in Canada.
Poor lured with promises of payment, jobs
Indian officials do not know where Kumar is, but have information that he has family in Canada, Lal said.
Other media reports in India have said police have recovered e-mails from Kumar's Gurgaon premises in which patients from Canada have inquired about the details of the operation.
It is unclear if the poor people actually sold the organs or whether they were duped by dozens of doctors allegedly involved in the scheme.
There are reports some were allegedly drawn into the clinic with the promise of high-paying work that required a physical examination, said Angie Seth, host of OMNI TV's South-Asian News, who has been following Indian media coverage of the case.
"From what we understand, these men would be sedated, then they'd wake up later with a large scar and in a great deal of pain, minus a kidney," Seth told CBC News on Monday.
Foreign clients were found waiting for transplants in the guest house, according to media reports. Investigators have said some of the people whose kidneys were taken were paid about $1,200.
"You're looking for patients from around the world who are desperate because it's a life-or-death matter," Seth said.
The Star quoted a neighbour in Brampton as saying Kumar told him last month that he was going back to India to wind up some business loose ends.
The paper also reported Kumar starred in low-budget Bollywood films in the 1990s.
Authorities have said this is not the first time Kumar, who has several aliases, has been accused of illegally selling kidneys. Police raided one of his clinics eight years ago, but he allegedly continued his activities.
With files from the Canadian Press
Interpol handout.
The hunt for alleged kidney harvester, Dr. Amit Kumar, has led investigators to Brampton, a city in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) of Ontario, Canada.

Indian investigators allege that Kumar is the kingpin of a ring that removed kidneys of poor laborers in India for transplantation to the highest bidding patients, usually foreigners. After a request by Indian police via an Interpol "red notice", Canadian police located a house in Brampton owned by Kumar, who has been dubbed "Dr. Horror" by the Indian press.

The house is occupied by a woman, presumed to be his wife, and two young children. Kumar purchased the 5,600 sq ft (~510 m²) home on February 2, 2007 for C$610,000. Reportedly, additional upgrades were performed at the home, including an in-ground pool, at a cost of C$100,000. The family drives an expensive SUV. The children, two boys aged 4 and 5, are said to be enrolled at private schools.

Dr. Kumar, a nephrologist, born Santosh Rameshwar Raut, was known to his neighbors. He told them that he was a cardiovascular surgeon in India, but that he wanted to buy a hotel in Canada and, after one last trip to India to tie up loose ends, permanently relocate to Canada.

"We are completely shocked," a neighbor told the ''Toronto Star''. "We used to joke at parties that he must be loaded to get such a beautiful wife, but nothing prepared us for this." Another neighbor told the paper, "It's very unusual for someone to come here from India and buy a big house like this and a Lexus. Doctors in India just don't make that kind of money."

Meanwhile, investigators are no closer to Amit Kumar, than they were a few days ago. It is widely believed that he is trying to flee India for Canada via Nepal, a country for which he is alleged to have a passport.

Police in Mumbai, however, believe he is still in India. "He is very much in India," commissioner Rakesh Maria said on Tuesday. "We suspect he will never leave."

"He will stay in India — it won't be easy to conduct his illegal activities anywhere else," he said. "In a country like Canada, it would almost be impossible to find kidney donors in large numbers."

However, after a request by the Haryana state government, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) will soon take lead in the investigation.

"We haven't yet received a final word to start investigations," CBI Director Vijay Shankar said. "We will begin working on the case as per legal process." Thus far, police in Gurgoan, Moradabad, Mumbai and Rajasthan have been investigating the case separately.

The case has called attention to medical tourism, the practice of traveling abroad for health care at more affordable rates. Kumar is alleged to have charged US$50,000 for a kidney transplant. The donors are said to have been paid the equivalent of US$1,200. Even so, the donors, according to widespread reports and testimonials, may not have realized what they were getting into when they went with a stranger for a well-paying job.

The ''Toronto Star'' interviewed a medical tourism travel agent, who operates openly. Aruna Thurairajan, who runs Overseas Medical Services in Calgary, Alberta, says that she frequently gets calls from patients in need of a kidney. Thurairajan refuses to give referrals for transplants because it "gives medical tourism a bad rap."

"Money is a big factor for people to decide where to go. Often they want to bargain how much to pay the vendor organ donor. Some of them can be quite selfish and mean. They think they can buy the kidney for peanuts. That's why the likes of Amit Kumar can prosper. So the patient should also be blamed along with him, because the patient bargains down the price," said Thurairajan.

But the victims of this illegal trade are not exclusively the poor day laborers but sometimes the clients themselves, according to a report by ''Hindustan Times''. The investigation cited a driver for a close associate of Amit Kumar and claims that at least three foreigners died on Dr. Kumar's operating table. He was able to name three Turkish nationals who all died in India between 2003 and 2005, officially from cardiac arrest. The driver, Harpal, says that the bodies were brought to a hospital in Ballabgarh, Faridabad, where the local authorities colluded with the doctors to list the cause of death as heart failure.