Dr Amit Kumar, the alleged mastermind of India's biggest kidney transplant racket, was brought to Kathmandu on Friday morning after his arrest from a jungle resort near the Indian border.

Kumar has been brought here from Chitwan in southern Nepal by road and handed over to the Kathmandu Police, Deputy Inspector General Kiran Gautam said, adding that he is being kept at the Hanumandhoka police station.

The interrogation of Kumar will start soon, Gautam said.

Kumar, 40, was arrested from the Hotel Wildlife Camp in Chitwan at 5 pm on Thursday, ending a fortnight long manhunt for the doctor who is believed to have conducted over 500 illegal operation,s in the last decade.

Wanted by the police in Haryana and some other states, Kumar was nabbed hours after he checked into the hotel, 60 kms from the Indian border town of Raxaul, with an associate identified as Manish Singh.

The police seized a bank draft of Rs 936,000, and Euros 145,000 and US$ 18,900 in cash from him.

An Interpol Red Corner Notice was issued against the tainted doctor after the massive racket, with inter-state and international ramifications, came to light on January 24.

Central Bureau of Investigation's Director Vijay Shankar said that they would approach Nepalese authorities so that Dr Amit is handed over to India as soon as possible.

If Kumar's involvement in a kidney racket in Nepal is proved, he will be charged in a court in the country. Otherwise, he may be handed over to India, Gautam earlier told local daily The Himalayan Times.

The Nepal police have been probing Kumar's links with kidney transplant rackets in this country.