I saw kidney racket doc in Nithari, says witness

New Delhi: The father of a girl, who was among the children raped and murdered in Nithari village of Noida, has claimed that he saw Amit Kumar, the main accused in the nationwide kidney racket, at the house of the businessman where the serial murders allegedly took place.

Jhabbu Lal, whose daughter was allegedly raped and killed allegedly by Moninder Singh Pandher and his manservant, claimed he had seen Amit Kumar at Pandher's D-5 house in Noida's Sector 31.

The skeletal remains of 19 children and women were recovered from the drain behind the house in December 2006.

"I recognised Amit Kumar as soon as his photograph was flashed on television. I had seen him at least three times at Pandher's house in a black car. He had a French beard at one time and the other two times he was clean-shaven," alleged Lal.

Lal works right across the lane from Pandher’s house and where he irons clothes for residents of the locality.

Lal has already spoken to his lawyer Khalid Khan, who told IANS that his client had informed him about Kumar.

In a related development, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) searched the hostel room of Linda, a nurse with the state-run Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, who once worked with Kumar.

The CBI, which formally took over the case Friday, searched the hostel room of Linda and also questioned hospital staff.

A CBI official said that they have got "valuable clues" in the case.

Linda is in judicial custody after the Gurgaon police arrested her January 31. A resident of Manipur, she worked for Amit Kumar for over a year before joining the state-run hospital in 2006. But she continued to work part-time for Amit Kumar and was paid Rs 25,000-30,000 a month.

CBI gets custody of another accused

The CBI on Tuesday got 14-day custody of Saraj Kumar, an anaesthetist and aide of Amit Kumar. Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Ranjana Aggarwal sent Saraj Kumar to CBI custody.

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Saraj Kumar surrendered in the court on Monday after eluding the police for nearly two weeks. He was absconding from his home in the capital's Shahdara area since Jan 24 when the police from Haryana and Moradabad in Uttar Pradesh busted the kidney racket being operated from the Gurgaon house of Amit Kumar, on the outskirts of Delhi.

Saraj Kumar, along with Amit Kumar and his brother Jeewan Kumar and Upendra Aggarwal, was booked by the CBI Friday in the illegal kidney transplant racket that extended to several countries.

On Monday, the CBI had got the custody of Upendra, his driver Jagdeesh and another man, Gayasuddin.

Despite Amit Kumar's interrogation, CBI sleuths have failed to make any headway on the suspected involvement of some politicians and senior doctors in the multi-billion rupee racket.

"We are now planning to have Amit Kumar face to face with Upendra Aggarwal and Saraj Kumar, which will help in establishing the vital links in the kidney racket," a senior CBI official said.

The only missing link in the chain now is Jeewan Kumar, who is yet to be traced.

Amit Kumar, a 43-year-old ayurvedic doctor, and Jeewan Kumar managed to escape after allegedly being tipped off about the impending police raids January 24. Amit Kumar was finally arrested in Nepal last week and flown to India Saturday.