13 years later, NIA catches main accused in Kerala professor hand-chopping case

Savad was arrested after NIA received tip-off about his location in Kerala. Professor T.J. Joseph, whose hand was chopped off, says main conspirators still at large.

National Investigation Agency (NIA) officials | Representational image | ANI

New Delhi: The prime accused in the 2010 Kerala hand-chopping case was arrested Wednesday, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) said. 

The accused, identified as Savad, had been on the run since the incident. He was arrested from Kerala’s Kannur district.

The Kerala hand-chopping case involved an attack on a professor, T.J. Joseph, who was accused of setting a “blasphemous” question in an exam paper. A group of assailants chopped off the professor’s hand in the attack, which took place on 4 July 2010, as he was returning from church with his family after Sunday prayers.

This case was the first that put the spotlight on the now-banned Popular Front of India (PFI) and its political wing, the Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI), as its members have been convicted in the case. 

According to the NIA, the assailants had also hurled bombs at the spot where they attacked the professor.

“Savad was identified as the main accused in the infamous 2010 case of attempted murder of Professor T.J. Joseph by chopping off his palm (sic),” an NIA spokesperson said Wednesday.

“He was charge-sheeted on 10 January 2011 in the case, one of the earliest such incidents in India reflecting the ideology of violent extremism being pursued by the Popular Front of India (PFI),” the spokesperson added.

A source in the NIA said Savad was suspected to have fled to Malaysia, but had been “lying low” within India instead.

After the ban on the PFI in 2022, his support base shrank and the agency was given a tip-off by an informant about his location, which led to his arrest, the source added.

“He had been staying in Kannur district for two years and also stayed in Tamil Nadu in the past. A reward of Rs 5 lakh was initially announced in his name, which was increased to Rs 10 lakh,” the source told ThePrint, requesting anonymity.

An FIR was first filed in the hand-chopping case at the Muvattupuzha police Station on the day of the attack, but the NIA took over the matter in March 2011, and invoked the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.

The NIA spokesperson said 19 accused have been convicted in the case so far, with three getting life imprisonment.

Reached for comment on the latest arrest, Joseph expressed relief but said the conspirators of the attack were still to be caught.

“People like Savad are just foot-soldiers, the main conspirators are still at large,” he told ThePrint.

This is an updated version of the report

(Edited by Sunanda Ranjan)