Air Hostess Arrested For Smuggling 960 Grams Gold In Her Rectum

In an unusual first-of-its-kind smuggling case in India, an air hostess was apprehended on May 28 for smuggling around 1 kg of compound gold inside her rectum. During the personal search interception at the Kannur International Airport, the air hostess was caught by officers of the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI), who detained her on the spot as they acted on information by special intelligence.

The air hostess, identified as Surabhi Khatun (26) is a native of Kolkata, West Bengal, and worked as a cabin crew member of an inbound Air India flight from Muscat to Kannur, Kerala. While returning to Kerala, the cabin crew member was found concealing 960 grams of compound gold inside her rectum.

Air Hostess Detained For Smuggling 960 Grams Gold In Her Rectum

As per the reports, DRI Cochin received a tip-off of a gold smuggling attempt upon the arrival of Khatun's flight from Muscat to Kannur International Airport on Tuesday. Promptly acting up on the tip, DRI officials of Kannur were directed to intercept Khatun for further inspection. 

Proving the suspicious right, on a personal search on Khatun, 960 grams of gold in compound form was found concealed in her rectum. After interrogation, Khatun was presented to a judicial magistrate after which she was remanded to 14 days of judicial custody in a women's prison in Kannur. 

First Of Its Kind In India

As per the claims of the sources, this case marks a first-of-its-kind case in India where an airline cabin crew member was apprehended smuggling gold by concealing in their method which is usually popular outside India. This underscores the soaring intensity of smuggling cases and human exploitation in India.

Investigation Suggests Prior Involvement

Following the detention, Khatun was interrogated by several authorities and it is suggested that Khatun has been possibly involved in past smuggling attempts as well. Cooperating with the authorities, the 26-year-old cabin crew member also spilt the names of the people who hired her for the smuggling operation and that she was given the commission for the same.

Authorities are now probing into the Kerala-based smuggling ring connected to the case and unearth the gold smuggling network. DRI is also looking into whether there are more cabin crew members involved in the gold smuggling racket.

As of now, there has been no official statement from the airlines regarding the arrest of Khatun. However, a similar case of an Air India Express cabin crew involved in gold smuggling took place last year in March when a crew member was caught with 1.5 kgs of gold at Kochi Airport.