The police are yet to trace the gang of criminals that on Sunday chopped off the hand of a college teacher at Muvattupuzha, 50 km from here.
Police teams have been deployed to hunt down the gang, and on Tuesday the houses of several people suspected to have information about the gang were raided in Ernakulam district.
The police on Sunday arrested two youths. The victim, T.J. Joseph, had been arrested in April on the charge of hurting the religious sentiments of Muslims. He was out on bail when he was attacked while returning from church with his mother and sister by car.
He attracted the wrath of some organisations for framing an examination question paper for undergraduate students last March which allegedly contained “insulting references” to Prophet Muhammad.
Hand reattached
The condition of Mr. Joseph, whose severed right hand was reattached by surgeons at a Kochi hospital, was stated to be stable.
Hospital sources said the 16-hour micro-vascular surgery was successful, but whether it was efficacious would be known only in a week. Mr. Joseph had received deep wounds on his legs and arms.
