Row over Sobha Johns arrest

KOCHI: The arrest of the Sobha John has set to another controversy as the mystery still has to be unfurled whether she was surrendered or arrested from the apartment in Bangalore as claimed by the police. Sobha John’s hold over the politicians and the influence in the police trigger doubts. She is expected to disclose the long list of kingpins in the flesh trade active in the state.   There have been conflicting versions about Sobha’s arrest. While the police claimed that they booked her along with three others from an apartment in Bangalore on Tuesday, Sobha said that she had surrendered to the police. Police explained that they had spotted the culprits in a garment shop and chased them down the road to the apartment from where the arrest happened.  When she was brought to Kochi on Wednesday, Sobha said that she would appear before the media again with a long list of people associated with sex scams if police do not arrest them. The list is believed to have highly placed persons in police and politics.  Circle Inspector Abdul Salam who arrested Sobha John denied that she had surrendered before the Police. “It is a baseless statement that she has surrendered before the police. She was staying at Thiruvananthapuram and reached Bangalore by air. When she was arrested she even attempted to destroy the mobile phone and SIM card. If she had intended to surrender why she had moved to Bangalore. We have seized several evidences which will put light into her allies in the flesh trade” CI said. Some others arrested in connection with the case had links with other similar scandals. At least three persons are found involved in the Paravoor sex scandal, which is being probed by the crime branch. The police are also investigating whether she has any passive involvement in the Paravoor case as many arrested in that case are involved in Varapuzha case also. “There are several people who seem to have links with both sex scandals. So we will look whether Sobha John have any passive involvement in the Paravoor case too. Now neither the police nor the crime branch have any information in this regard” an investigating officer said.