In a desperate bid to raise funds for tutoring for a government teachers’ exam, a 25-year-old woman turned to smuggling ganja. However, she was arrested by the Government Railway Police on Saturday, on her very first attempt at smuggling.

Police seized 100kg of ganja worth Rs 15 lakh, and arrested Muthem Babitha, her cousin Sunil and another man named Bidyasagar.

Babitha, an aspiring teacher from Vishakapatnam, had completed a Bachelor’s degree in Education. After her husband, Ganesh, abandoned her for another woman, Babitha was hoping to secure permanent work as a teacher, reported Deccan Chronicle.

Babitha wanted to take the District Selection Committee entrance exam, but could not raise the funds needed for a coaching programme. She therefore turned to smuggling drugs as a way to make the money quickly.

An official of the Government Railway Police, Secunderabad, said that Babitha had confessed that she had been forced to take up smuggling for the sake of getting a job.

“Babitha is a degree holder and she wanted to secure a job. The drug smugglers took advantage of her financial situation,” he said.

According to The Hindu, Babitha and the co-accused had been offered Rs 5,000 each to transport the ganja, packed in suitcases and bags in 15-20kg packets, from Vishakapatnam to Sholapur in Maharashtra.  

A case has been booked under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act against all the three accused.