The National Investigation Agency (NIA) is set to carry out further investigation into the brutal hand-chopping of college professor T J Joseph in 2010.
The probe agency has decided to conduct further investigation into the case based on the statement of the first accused, Savad, who allegedly severed the professor’s right palm. The custodial interrogation of Savad had exposed a network of alleged PFI operatives who sheltered and arranged employment to him in Tamil Nadu and Kerala while he was on the run.
According to Savad’s statement, he received help from the banned organization, Popular Front of India (PFI), to remain in hiding for 14 years.
The NIA informed a special court in Ernakulam the other day that further investigation is necessary to secure additional scientific evidence and ascertain the role of other individuals in the wider conspiracy that may have fuelled the attack. The court accepted the agency’s Kochi unit’s request.
After nearly 14 years on the run, the first accused was arrested by the NIA on January 10, 2024 from Kannur, where he was living under the pseudonym Shajahan.
According to the NIA charge sheet, the accused attacked Joseph, former Malayalam professor at Newman College, Thodupuzha, on July 4, 2010. It said Savad chopped off the victim’s right palm and threw it away in the nearby compound as part of executing their radical belief. While chopping off the hand, he uttered, “This hand that insults Islam will not be used in future,” the NIA charge sheet said.
The NIA had filed a charge sheet against 27 accused under various sections of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, Explosive Substances Act and Indian Penal Code. After the trial, the NIA Special Court convicted 19 accused in 2023. Since Savad was absconding, the case against him was split up and refiled.