Government sources said that all preparations had been made to fly back Ghosh on August 12 — he is wanted for bank frauds to the tune of Rs 25 crore — but the plan has been shelved due to the unsuitability of an “air ambulance” arranged for him as part of a secret operation.

Why an air ambulance? Because Ghosh swallowed an 8-cm knife soon after the German Supreme Court ordered his extradition. And this single act ensured he did not return to India to face trial.

The knife is lodged in his stomach since Ghosh never gave consent for an operation in Germany. This led to prolonged diplomatic negotiations of flying him to India in an air ambulance, completed with a team of surgeons and anaesthetists.

Government and CBI sources confirmed that all arrangements had been made to bring back Ghosh in a BSF aircraft — it was being serviced in a neighbouring country — this week but a last-minute hitch forced the Government to change plans.

“It is not as if we have aborted the plan to bring back the fugitive. It just may take some more time. The Germans have spent a lot of money to keep him in hospital. Keeping in mind their demands on civil liberties, we will have to make foolproof arrangements to fly him in,” a top CBI official told The Indian Express.

Sources said a high-level team had been camping in Munich for the past few days and that another team may have to be sent once final arrangements for an air ambulance are made.

In 2002, Ghosh was chargesheeted by the CBI for bank frauds. He was declared a proclaimed offender the same year and arrested by the Interpol in Munich. But even as the CBI celebrated, word came in that he had swallowed a knife and that he would be allowed to travel to New Delhi only after a German medical team declared him medically fit.