Kerala woman entrepreneur survives bid to trap in ganja case

A young woman entrepreneur in Kerala capital Thiruvananthapuram has survived a bid to get her trapped in a ganja trading case by a youth. Declining a marriage proposal was suspected to be the provocation.

Sobha Viswanath, who runs a clothing shop in the city, was nabbed by the city police narcotic cell in January after around 500-gram ganja was recovered from the shop. She was released on bail from the police station.

Viswanath petitioned Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and top police officers seeking a fair investigation to prove her innocence.

A subsequent probe by crime branch deputy superintendent of police S Amminikuttan found that the ganja was placed in the shop at the behest of one Harish, who is a businessman and son of a doctor who owns a private hospital in the city. While Harish was reported to be absconding, his aide Vivekraj, who placed the ganja, was already nabbed. A staff of the shop was also suspected to have helped the gang by switching off the surveillance camera system of the shop to help the gang place the ganja.

Crime Branch sources said that a report showing Vishwanath's innocence and arraigning Harish and others were already submitted to the court.

Vishwanath said that she knew Harish over the last several years and they were friends. But when Harish proposed to her, she declined it. Later on, he used to pester her and hence she became suspicious about his involvement in trapping her.

The young entrepreneur also said that the incident had caused much damage to her establishment's reputation apart from personal trauma. Hence she would fight the case till it reached the logical conclusion. She also expressed concerns that many would have been wrongly implicated in cases in a similar manner.

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