By Shankar Raj*
Thiruvananthapuram: Following a credible tipoff, an air hostess of Air India Express was apprehended by officials of the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) at Kannur International Airport for smuggling nearly a kg of gold that was hidden in her rectum, after her flight landed here on May 28, 2024.
The DRI was tipped off regarding the smuggling of gold facilitated by Surabhi Khatun, 26, of Kolkata who was part of the cabin crew on Air India Express flight IX 714 inbound from Muscat that landed here on May 28.
According to a DRI source, she has revealed the names of certain persons who hired her for the smuggling activities. She was given a commission for each successful gold smuggling attempt, the source said.
The DRI said during a search, Surabhi was found in possession of over 960 grams of gold in compound form. After interrogation, she was presented before a judicial magistrate and subsequently remanded in judicial custody.
According to DRI sources, Surabhi may have been involved in multiple instances of gold smuggling in the past. Investigators are trying to identify her accomplices and suspect that a huge gold smuggling network may be associated with the operation.
DRI now plans to petition the court for custody of Surabhi to facilitate further questioning as part of their comprehensive probe into the matter.
Sources said Surabhi’s interrogation has reportedly revealed details about the involvement of more crew members in smuggling, and more arrests are likely in the coming days.
Earlier, the Customs Preventive Commissionerate in Kerala had arrested a cabin crew member of Air India Express for smuggling 1.45 kg of gold in March last year at Kochi airport.
The arrested was Shafi of Wayanad who was part of the crew on the Bahrain-Kozhikode-Kochi route.
*Shankar Raj is a former editor of The New Indian Express, Karnataka and Kerala, and writes regularly on current affairs.
