Dubai, Nov 5 (IANS): A Chinese couple who stole a diamond worth 300,000 dirhams (about $81,000) from a shop here and then fled the UAE were arrested within 20 hours from an Indian airport, authorities said.

The 3.27-carat diamond was recovered in India after it was smuggled out of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) inside the stomach of the woman, an official was cited as saying by the Gulf News on Monday.

The pair, in their 40s, grabbed the gem from a jewellery shop in Dubai's commercial business district in Deira and immediately fled the country.

They were arrested as they were transiting to Hong Kong via Mumbai. The couple were brought back to the UAE in cooperation with the Interpol and the Indian police, the daily said.

The police released footages of the surveillance cameras in the store, which showed the couple entering the jewellery shop in Deira's Gold Souk.

The footage showed the man distracting the staff by asking them about stones of certain specifications while the woman was seen going towards the entrance. She was seen opening the glass door of the display and then stealing the white-coloured diamond.

Then she hid the the diamond under her jacket and left the shop with the man.

The couple then went to the Dubai Mall. Footage showed the couple entering restrooms and then coming out wearing a different set of clothes.

They were then seen at the Dubai International Airport, from where they flew out.

Colonel Adel Al Joker, Director of the Criminal Investigation Department, said the couple confessed to stealing the diamond.

An X-ray scan showed the diamond in the woman's gut. A specialist doctor was called in to administer a solution to retrieve the diamond, according to the report.