Sunday, February 10, 2008 (New Delhi)

In a new twist to the kidney transplant racket, CBI sources say that Dr Amit Kumar has said he was running a clinic in Noida in a house owned by a senior UP bureaucrat, who is close to Chief Minister Mayawati.However, sources in the UP government deny any wrongdoing by the bureaucrat. They say he does own the house but that it was on rent.They say the house was rented out by a couple first and then a company, but did not have a clinic.''We are going to establish the entire network,'' said G Mohanty, spokesperson, CBI.Meanwhile, the CBI today got custody of Dr Kumar till February 22. He will have to be produced before a special CBI court in Ambala on the same day.On Sunday he was produced before the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate at his residence instead of an open court. Media was not allowed in. So nobody has an idea what transpired during the hearing. The CBI says it's going to be a lengthy interrogation. Dr Kumar may be taken to other cities in India where he allegedly carried out illegal kidney transplants.He will also be questioned about the claims made by his business associate Dr Upendra, who was arrested on January 24 from Dr Kumar's clinic in Gurgaon.Dr Upendra had said that Dr Kumar had connections in the underworld, Bollywood and among politicians and bureaucrats.The last fortnight has made it clear that the kidney racket in not limited to a place or a state, and with Dr Kumar in their custody, the CBI has its work cut out.