Indian 'knife fraudster' in dock

Mr Ghosh has avoided extradition for four years

An Indian man, who swallowed a knife to avoid extradition from Germany, has appeared before a Calcutta court.

Amarendra Nath Ghosh was arrested in Germany four years ago over a series of bank scams, all of which he denies.

When his return to India was ordered in 2003 he swallowed a 10cm (four inch) blade and refused surgery to remove it.

German officials were unable to remove it by force or send him home with the knife threatening his life. He was returned this week in an air ambulance.

A spokesman for India's Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) told the AFP news agency that Germany finally agreed to extradite him after a four-year battle, on condition that he was flown back in a fully equipped air ambulance.

Medical escort

Accompanying Mr Ghosh on the flight were three CBI officers, two surgeons and an anaesthetist equipped with medicines and surgical equipment.

The team had flown to Munich to collect Mr Ghosh and escort him back to India.

CBI spokesman G Mohanty said that 46-year-old Mr Ghosh still had the right to refuse the removal of the blade, but that he would nonetheless face prosecution.

"In Germany, he resisted the knife's removal to avoid deportation, but here we will go ahead with his prosecution," he said.

But he added that if Mr Ghosh is found guilty and sentenced to prison, he will be compelled to have the knife removed.

Mr Ghosh faces a host of criminal conspiracy charges - including cheating five Calcutta banks out of US$6.75m in 1994 and 1995.

The Calcutta judge scheduled another hearing on 11 September.