A man with ties to the Toronto area who is accused of masterminding an illegal transplant ring in India has denied any wrongdoing upon his arrest in Nepal. 

"I am just a doctor, not a kidney dealer," Amit Kumar told reporters as he was brought to Kathmandu after being arrested Thursday in the southern Nepalese town of Chitwan, 150 kilometres south of the capital.

Nepalese police escort the fugitive Amit Kumar on Friday in Kathmandu after his arrest.

Indian police have said Kumar, 40, is not a qualified doctor, but is alleged to have overseen the removal of kidneys from up to 500 poor labourers for sale to wealthy patients at a clinic in the New Delhi suburb of Gurgaon, which was raided last month.

The raid led to dozens of arrests, but Kumar managed to evade authorities.

Kumar seen clipping articles about transplant ring

Interpol had issued a worldwide "red notice" for Kumar calling for his immediate arrest for "crimes against life and health," according to the international police agency's website.

Kumar reportedly aroused suspicion at the small jungle resort where he was staying when one of the employees noticed him cutting out newspaper articles on the alleged transplant ring, which has dominated Indian media for weeks, freelance reporter Sabina Shrestha told CBC News on Friday from Nepal.  

Police showed up at the hotel shortly after and arrested Kumar, but his associate Manish Singh managed to escape.

Kumar was found carrying $230,000 US in cash, and a cheque for $24,000, officials said. Kumar said he did not commit any crimes, and the charges against him are "absolutely wrong."

Indian authorities are trying to arrange for Kumar to be extradited, but Nepalese officials have also laid money laundering charges against him, Shrestha added.

"It's still not very clear what's going to happen with him," she said.

Wife says Kumar wanted to help people in need

He is scheduled to appear in a Kathmandu court on Sunday, as Friday and Saturday are holidays in Nepal, Deputy Inspector General Ramesh Kumar Shrestha told Indian newspaper the Hindu on Friday.

Speaking for Interpol in Ottawa on Friday, RCMP Sgt. Sylvie Tremblay told CBC News that Interpol Ottawa, which is managed by the Mounties, followed up on information to assist the Indian authorities in their investigation. But she would not provide any details on the nature of the assistance or whether there is any investigation regarding Kumar in Canada.

Last week, Canadian media reports said Kumar was living in a home in a quiet suburb of Brampton, just north of Toronto, with his wife and two children, up until December.

During an interview with the Toronto Star conducted in Hindi and published Friday, his wife Poonam said he was just a doctor who wanted to help people in need.

"You tell me what human would want to do these things to anyone," she said. "My husband didn't do anything wrong."