Kerala Prof hand chopping case: NIA arrests prime accused Savad after 13 years
The prime accused in TJ Joseph hand chopping case, Savad, was arrested by the NIA reportedly in Kannur.
FollowKannur: The prime accused in the case of chopping off Prof. TJ Joseph's hand has been arrested by the National Investigation Agency (NIA). Savad is the first accused in the case. He has been absconding for 13 years since the incident in July 2010. He was a Popular Front activist. The NIA had announced a sum for those who helped trace Savad. It is reported that he was arrested from Kannur.
Savad was arrested at a place called Mattannur Beram. He was working as a carpenter. He was caught in the rented house last night.
The NIA issued a lookout notice for the absconding accused in the 2010 hand-chopping case of Professor TJ Joseph in Kerala. A special court of NIA on July 12 convicted six more persons while the first accused Savad continued to remain absconding.
Former Head of the Malayalam Department of Thodupuzha's Newman College, Prof. Joseph, courted controversy after a passage in an exam he created was alleged to have insulted Prophet Muhammad. On July 4, 2010, a group of men attacked Prof. Joseph and his family as they were going to church. They cut off his right hand and stabbed him in the left leg in front of his family.
The state police, who first investigated the case and later the NIA, found that the Popular Front was behind the crime. It was found that the accused got both domestic and foreign financial support both before and after the incident.
After the second phase of the trial, the NIA court in Kochi convicted six accused and acquitted five on July 12. The 11 persons facing the trial were Sajil, of Muvattupuzha, M K Nasar, of Kunhunnikkara, Shafeeq, of Odakkali, Najeeb K A, of Uliyannoor, Azeez Odakkal, of Kurruppampadi, Mohammad Rafi, of Thottakattukara, Subair TP, of West Veliyathunad, M K Noushad, of Kunhunnikara, Mansoor of Choornikkara, P P Moideen Kunju, of Kunhunnikara, and P M Ayub of Thaikkattukara.
The court convicted Sajil, MK Nasar, Najeeb KA, MK Noushad, PP Moideen Kunju, and PM Ayub and acquitted the remaining accused in the case.
The act of terrorism was proven, according to the NIA court. Assaulting a professor with a weapon, absconding, destroying a car, possessing 143 weapons, terrorism, conspiracy, assault with a weapon, and attempted murder are among the other offenses that have been proven.
The second phase of the trial ended after a long 12 years after the incident. Thirty-seven people were put on trial in the first phase, and 11 of them were found guilty in 2015 and 26 were acquitted. The accused persons who were currently being tried were the ones who escaped after the first stage of the trial was finished. After 2015, police detained them.
