Kerala Professor T.J. Joseph hand-chopping case: NIA nabs first accused 13 years after incident

Savad was arrested from a rented house in Kannur on Tuesday. He is set to be produced before NIA Special Court in Kochi on Wednesday afternoon

Prof. T.J. Joseph (file) | Photo Credit: VIPIN CHANDRAN

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has arrested Savad, the first accused in the sensational T.J. Joseph hand-chopping case, 13 years after the gruesome incident.

Savad was arrested from a rented house at Beram ward in Mattannur municipality in Kannur district on January 9 (Tuesday). He had been doing carpentry works during his five-month stay in the area. He was be produced before the NIA Special Court in Kochi on January 10 (Wednesday) afternoon. Mini S. Das, Special Judge, remanded him to judicial custody till January 24.

The NIA had announced a reward of ₹10 lakh for information on Savad last year.

A native of Asamannoor in Ernakulam district, the 38-year-old had allegedly chopped off the right hand of T.J. Joseph, then Professor of Newman College at Thodupuzha in Idukki district. The attack was carried out by a group of activists of the now-banned Popular Front of India (PFI) while he was returning home with his family after attending the Sunday Mass at a church at Muvattupuzha in Ernakulam district on July 4, 2010.

According to the investigation agency, it was a reference to Prophet Mohammad in one of the question papers for BCom examinations in March 2010 set by Prof. Joseph that provoked the accused to attack the professor.

Of the 42 accused, 19 were found guilty of various offences under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. 

According to the remand report, Savad had played a very important role in the planning and execution of the attack. Savad was one of the assailants who chopped the right palm of Prof. Joseph on the instructions of the PFI. Outraged by the alleged blasphemy committed by Prof. Joseph, Savad conducted recce of the victim’s house on previous occasions. He and six other accused attacked Prof. Joseph as part of a conspiracy and as instructed by principal conspirator M. K. Nasar.

A victory for legal system: Professor

Reacting to the development, Prof. Joseph said that he considered the arrest “a victory for the legal system.”

“As a victim, I do not feel elated as the actual abettors of the crime continued to remain elusive,” he said.