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The two women including an Air India Express cabin crew member, arrested for carrying six kg gold at the Kozhikode airport Friday, were regular carriers, according to an official of Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI).

The two were picked up by the DRI when they landed from Dubai at the Kozhikode airport Thursday.

Speaking to IANS, the official who did not wish to be identified, said the two admitted during  interrogation that they had worked as carriers on many occasions in the past also.

"They said that from July till they were caught, they have smuggled in 32 kg of gold through the Kochi, Chennai and Kozhikode airports," said the official.

The arrested cabin crew member Hiromas Sebastian, who is from Wayanad district, has been working with Air India Express for the past few years. The other arrested person has been identified as Raheela Cheerayi. Air India has already suspended its employee.

"The two arrested are close friends and the cabin crew lady was not on duty. The interrogation has just begun and they will be produced before an economic offences court here later in the day. It’s too early to say if there are more women who are being used as carriers," said the DRI official.

Following the arrest of the two carriers, the DRI officials are zeroing in on businessmen based in Kannur and Kozhikode districts and also in Dubai and who are believed to be the kingpins of the smuggling racket.

AI plane diverted to Tashkent due to medical emergency

An Air India plane to New York from here with 253 people onboard was diverted to Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan, due to a medical emergency.

The national carrier’s non-stop flight AI-101 took off at its scheduled time from Delhi airport at 1.30 AM with 241 passengers and 12 crew members.

But as the Boeing 777 aircraft was flying over the Central Asian nation, flight attendants informed the captain about a medical emergency, an airline official said here, without giving details details of the passenger involved.

As the plane was in Uzbekistan airspace, the pilots informed the air traffic control tower at the Tashkent International Airport and sought permission to land, explaining about the medical emergency.

After the ATC granted permission, the plane landed at around 5.30 AM IST safely at the Tashkent International airport.

The person, whose details and nature of medical emergency was not immediately known, was rushed to the hospital there, an Air India spokesperson said, adding that "Air India has asked for help from the Indian Embassy there as we don’t have an office in that country".

Passengers were being taken care of and efforts are on to provide necessary facilities to the passengers at Tashkent, he added.

The spokesperson also said that due to the diversion, the return flight from New York to Delhi (AI-102) , which was to be operated with the same aircraft, has been delayed and its time of departure would be informed later.