The air hostess confessed to have carried 10 lakh dollars in multiple trips over the past two months, for which she receive Rs 1 lakh per trip from a hawala operator.

The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) on Monday arrested a Jet Airways flight attendant for allegedly making eight trips to Hong Kong with illegal cash, wrapped in foil. The air hostess of the reputed airlines was intercepted by DRI officials when she was on a flight to Hong Kong, with US dollars amounting to Rs 3.24 crore.

According to an official statement the DRI has also taken into custody a hawala operator who allegedly drafted the airline staff into the money-laundering network. Reportedly, following a tip-off, DRI officials conducted a surprise check in Delhi airport on Monday, to recover the illegal money and arrest the flight attendant named Devshi Kulshreshtha and hawala operator Amit Malhotra, a resident of Vivek Vihar area of Delhi.

Stating that the hawala operator was following a modus operandi of using airline crew members to smuggle forex, a DRI official said, “Malhotra would collect money from some bullion dealers in Delhi and send it via some air hostess to select foreign destinations. The money was being used for purchasing gold abroad. The gold would then be sent to India illegally.”

During the surprise raid at the Jet Airways flight, which was about to begin boarding for Hong Kong, DRI officials searched Kulshreshtha’s baggage and found a suitcase, hidden beneath shoes and cosmetics. According to DRI officials, the suitcase contained wads of 100 dollar bills, tightly packed in foil and cloth to dodge the x-ray.

During interrogation, the air hostess confessed to have carried 10 lakh dollars in multiple trips over the past two months, for which she receive Rs 1 lakh per trip from the hawala operator. According to investigators, hawala operator Amit Malhotra collected money from bullion dealers in Delhi and exported the money to foreign lands through airline staff. Reportedly, the money was channeled back to the country in the form of gold.

The police have recovered Rs 3 lakh cash and 1600 dollars from Malhotra’s Delhi residence.

“Malhotra has been illegally smuggling forex for the past over one year. There are some other crew members involved in the case. We are also trying to find out the details of bullion dealers involved in this syndicate,” said a DRI official.

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