India's customs department arrested a crew member of the Singapore Airlines at New Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport after he was reportedly caught smuggling gold, Indian Express reported on Wednesday.
Customs officials recovered 1,048g of gold worth 3.1 million rupees (S$64,011) after searching the suspect and this was his second attempt, the report said.
The crew member was planning to hand over the gold chain and bangle to an agent at a hotel in Delhi for which he was supposed to get S$500.
Gold was in the form of chain and bangles and the accused was wearing them under his uniform to avoid detection, the report said citing Joint Commissioner of Customs Anubha Singh. He was intercepted at Terminal 3 after exiting from the Singapore Airlines flight SQ402.
Also Read: Jet Airways air hostess arrested for smuggling US dollars out of India
Singapore Airlines confirmed that a member of its cabin crew operating on Singapore Airlines flight SQ-402 on January 22 was detained by Delhi Customs authorities.
"Singapore Airlines will provide full co-operation to the investigating authorities. We are unable to provide details of the crew member concerned due to confidentiality reasons," a spokesperson for SIA told Channel NewsAsia and added that disciplinary action enforced on the crew member would depend on the outcome of investigations, as per the established company guidelines.
The incident comes days after a Jet Airways flight attendant was arrested for allegedly trying to smuggle out $480,200 out of India.
Deveshi Kulshreshtha, 25, has reportedly smuggled forex on at least seven previous occasions before getting caught on board a Delhi-Hong Kong flight on January 9.
Separately, a Chinese man was also arrested by Customs officials for allegedly trying to smuggle gold worth Rs 52 lakh at New Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport.
