Indian kidney racket fugitive held in Nepal

KATHMANDU, Feb 8 (Reuters) - Nepal's police have arrested an Indian man suspected of being the mastermind of an illegal kidney transplant racket in India, a top force official said.

The racket was uncovered and made headlines in India last month in the booming IT city of Gurgaon outside New Delhi, with reports that hundreds of poor labourers may have been duped or forced into donating organs to wealthy clients.

The 40-year-old Amit Kumar was arrested at a resort in Chitwan National Park, 80 km (50 miles) southwest of Kathmandu on Thursday evening. Chitwan is popular among foreign tourists for jungle safaris and wildlife watching.

"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.

The case was one of the largest transplant rackets reported in India in recent years and has led to calls for the government to tighten the regulation of kidney transplants to stop backstreet operations.

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. (Reporting by Gopal Sharma; Editing by Alistair Scrutton, and David Fox)