Attack on professor: 2 PFI activists held

Two activists of the Popular Front of India (PFI) were arrested on Monday in connection with Sunday's attack on a professor at Muvattupuzha.

The right palm of T.J. Joseph, professor at Newman College, Thodupuzha, was chopped off by the assailants. He has been under suspension following a controversy over disparaging remarks about religious beliefs in an examination question paper he had prepared for undergraduate students at the college.

The duo were remanded in judicial custody by the Judicial First Class Magistrate Court, Muvattupuzha. The police said that those arrested were Ashraf, 37, Mundeth, Mekalady, and Jaffar, 28, Eramaloor, Kothamangalam. Their exact role in the attack is being investigated. Sources said that 12 persons, most of them with extremist links, have been taken into custody for interrogation.

Meanwhile, the severed palm of the professor was stitched back on Monday following a lengthy surgery at Specialists Hospital, Kochi. Hospital sources said that he was conscious and that his condition was stable. He is recovering in an intensive-care unit of the hospital.

Meanwhile, the Muslim Aikya Vedi took out a march to the Muvattupuzha police station on Monday evening claiming that its activists did not have any role in the attack. The agitation was peaceful. Police presence was intensified in Muvattupuzha and Thodupuzha.

A police team led by Muvattupuzha Deputy Superintendent of Police Sabu Mathew is probing the case. Superintendent of Police, Ernakulam Rural, T. Vikram, who was camping in the area, said the police were working on all clues. “We have talked to church leaders to convince them that an all-out effort is being made to nab the culprits,” he said.