NEW DELHI - The alleged leader of an illegal organ transplant ring with ties to Canada has been remanded in custody in India until Feb. 22.
Various news reports in India say Dr. Amit Kumar appeared amidst tight security before a magistrate at the magistrate's home in New Delhi today, in a bid to avoid the media glare.
The man dubbed Dr. Horror by the media was remanded into the custody of India's Central Bureau of Investigation, which asked for more time to interrogate him.
The Indian-born doctor, whose family lives in Brampton, Ont., west of Toronto, was arrested Thursday at a jungle resort in Nepal and deported to India on Saturday.
Police in India allege Kumar headed an illegal organ transplant ring based in the upscale New Delhi suburb of Gurgaon, with kidneys often obtained from unwilling donors. They say the ring sold up to 500 kidneys to clients who travelled to India from around the world in the past nine years.
Kumar, who has denied the allegations, has reportedly been charged with causing grievous hurt by dangerous weapon, wrongful confinement, cheating and criminal conspiracy.
