Kidney racket fugitive Amit Kumar held in Nepal

By Gopal Sharma

KATHMANDU (Reuters) - Nepal's police have arrested an Indian man suspected of being the mastermind of an illegal kidney transplant racket in India that may have duped or forced at gunpoint hundreds of poor labourers into donating their organs.

The racket, first uncovered last month in the booming IT city of Gurgaon outside New Delhi, was one of the largest transplant rings reported in India for years and led to calls for the government to stop a booming trade in backstreet operations.

Amit Kumar was arrested at a resort in Chitwan National Park, 80 km southwest of Kathmandu on Thursday evening. Chitwan is popular among foreign tourists for jungle safaris and wildlife watching.

Indian media said he aroused suspicions of a hotel employee when he cut out a news article about the kidney racket from a newspaper.

"He was sitting in the lobby of the hotel from where we arrested him," police officer Kiran Gautam said from Hetauda, the biggest town in the region.

"He did not resist being arrested," Gautam said.

Kidney failure has become more common in rich countries, often because of obesity, and a shortage of transplant organs has fuelled a black market that exploits needy donors.

At least five foreigners -- two U.S. and three Greek citizens -- were found last month in a luxury guesthouse in Gurgaon which was part of the racket, police said.