NEW DELHI – A 25-year-old Jet Airways air-hostess allegedly made eighttrips to Hong Kong with illegal cash wrapped in foil before shewas carrying Rs 3.24 crore in US dollars. A hawala operator who allegedlydrafted her into a money-laundering network has also been arrested.
Devshi Kulshreshtha was arrested by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligenceon Monday after a surprise check on a flight leaving Delhi before dawn. Thedirectorate reportedly received a tip-off.
Around 2 am on Monday, a team entered a flight about to begin boarding forHong Kong and checked Ms Kulshreshtha’s baggage. Officials were stunned tofind in a suitcase, hidden beneath shoes and cosmetics, wads of 100 dollarbills, each tightly packed in foil and cloth to dodge the x-ray. She wasimmediately ordered off the flight and later arrested.
Devshi Kulshreshtha was caught with Rs 3.21 crore in US dollar billswrapped in foil.Ms Kulshreshtha allegedly told officials that she had carried 10 lakhdollars in multiple trips over the past two months. She was paid Rs onelakh for each trip, say the police. During hours of questioning, shereportedly named a hawala operator based in Delhi, Amit Malhotra.
Investigators say Amit Malhotra, 40, collected money from bullion dealersin Delhi and would try to get airline workers to take the money abroad,which was then channeled back to India in the form of gold.
Malhotra allegedly befriended Ms Kulshreshtha on a flight six months agoand convinced her to carry illegal money to Hong Kong. Around Rs 3 lakh incash and 1,600 dollars have been found in raids at Malhotra’s home in Delhi.
Ms Kulshreshtha, who trained as an air-hostess at a noted institute inDehradun, had worked with Jet Airways for six years.
She was married a year ago to her former colleague in Jet Airways, who isnow an executive with a placement company. Her father-in-law is believed tobe a retired defence officer.