The Haryana police on Monday initiated the process for issuance of a red corner notice against alleged kingpin of the kidney transplant racket Amit Kumar amid fears that he had fled the country.

The state police had written to the Central Bureau of Investigation to approach the Interpol for issuance of a red corner notice against Dr Kumar, Gurgaon Police Commissioner Mohinder Lal said.

There were indications that Kumar, who operated under different names, had fled the country, he said.

"Amit Chaudhary, Amit Purshottam, Rajesh and Suresh are some of the names he used," Lal said adding his real name might have been Santosh Rote. The police had identified five nurses and 20 employees of two hospitals who might be involved in the racket, Lal said.

Police suspected Kumar was involved in removing kidneys of 20 farmers hailing from Guntur district in Andhra Pradesh in 2000, he said.

A driver employed with one Dr Upendra, who was also allegedly involved in the inter-state kidney racket, had been detained for questioning, the police commissioner said.

The police had seized some valuable documents, which, he said, threw light on some 48 people who had contacted Kumar for kidneys. Besides India, these people hailed from the United States, Canada [Images], Greece and the United Arab Emirates, the commissioner said. Mohit Hospital in Noida was raided by a joint team of Haryana and Uttar Pradesh police in connection to this case, he said.

Kumar had eight bank accounts and the police had asked concerned authorities to freeze these immediately, Lal said adding eight cars, which were used to ferry patients for kidney transplants, had been impounded.

The alleged mastermind owned two houses in Gurgaon, one in Sushant Lok and the other in Essel Towers. He also owned two hospitals in Gurgaon, both of which were raided by the police in connection with the racket, he said.