Kannur, June 1 (FN Agency) The sleuths of the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) arrested one male crew member of Air India Express on Friday in connection with a gold smuggling case at Kannur International Airport in which a woman air hostess was arrested on Thursday. Reports said, DRI arrested Sohail of Thilankery in Kannur district. Sohail, a senior crew member with ten years of experience was directly involved in the recruitment and appointment of Surabhi Khatun (26)of Kolkata, DRI sources said. DRI arrested Surabhi Khatun,a female air hostess on Thursday with 960 grams of smuggled gold, valued around Rs 65 lakhs, and remanded her into judicial custody for 14 days.
The compound form gold was concealed in four capsules and kept in her rectum. She arrived from Mascot on an Air India Express flight at Kannur International Airport on May 28, and DRI sleuths intercepted the air hostess, following a tip and seized the smuggled gold concealed inside her rectum. According to DRI , this is the first case in India where an airline woman crew member has been apprehended for smuggling gold by concealing it in the rectum.