By Ashraf Padanna /Thiruvananthapuram

 
Sobha John, the first woman to be declared goon under Kerala’s Goonda Act, was sentenced to seven years in prison for blackmailing a former chief priest of the Sabarimala temple, a pilgrimage centre in south India.
John and her eight accomplices were accused of luring Tantri Kandararu Mohanaru to an apartment in the port city of Kochi, taking photographs of the priest with a woman and robbing him of gold, precious stones and other ornaments.
She also threatened to publish the photographs if Mohanaru failed to pay Rs3mn.
The court ruled that John plotted the crime and executed it with the help of her accomplices.
The Ernakulam additional session court judge, E C Harigovindan, sentenced John, Anil Kumar and Bechu Rahman to seven years rigorous imprisonments in two separate cases charged in connection with the incident. The sentences will run concurrently. They were also fined Rs5,000 each.
Among others, Abdul Sathar, Majeed and Shareef were sentenced to seven years rigorous imprisonment while Abdul Sahad, Azeez and Biju Peter received four years each. Two of John’s accomplices are still at large.
“John is the mastermind in the case. With the help of her accomplice, criminal Bechu Rehman, she arranged for people to threaten Mohanaru and commit a robbery,” the court observed.
Five rings and two gold chains were stolen from Mohanaru, who later told police about the kidnapping episode on July 23, 2006.
Mohanaru had gone to John’s flat to speak about appointing a caretaker at his home. The five men who opened the door threatened him at gunpoint and demanded money.
The prosecution claimed Mohanaru had gone to John’s home solely to meet the caretaker. “It is clear Mohanaru went to the flat to meet the caretaker and not for any other purpose,” the court observed adding John had been waiting for an opportunity to trap Mohanaru who was always seen wearing costly ornaments.
The court also ruled that the defendants had failed to prove that Mohanaru was at the apartment for immoral trafficking.
The court examined 51 witnesses during the trial that began in September last year. The accused were charged with criminal conspiracy, unlawful assembly, rioting, dacoity and destroying evidence.
John, also an accused in the Varapuzha sex case, in which an underaged girl was pimped to some 100 men, is currently in jail.