Ernakulam: The remand period of prime accused Savad in the hand-chopping case of Professor TJ Joseph has been extended till February 16. The NIA will file a custodial application next week seeking to re-interrogate Savad.
The NIA informed that Savad will be transferred from Ernakulam Sub Jail to Kakkanad District Jail. They said the investigation has not been completed yet.
Savad was identified as the main accused in the hand-chopping case of Prof. Joseph. A total of 19 accused have so far been convicted in the case under various IPC sections. Of them, three have been convicted for life, and 10 others were sent to eight years of rigorous imprisonment and fines. All the accused in the case were activists of the now-banned PFI and Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI), the NIA stated.
Savad, a religious extremist and activist of the banned terrorist group Popular Front of India (PFI), was arrested by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) on January 10, 2024. He was arrested from Mattannur, Kannur, 13 years after the gruesome incident happened.
Savad was hiding in Kannur for eight years. With the help of SDPI, the accused was staying in rented houses at Valapattanam, Iriti and Mattannur. Sawad was caught by the NIA while he was hiding in Mattanur along with his wife and two children under a fake identity.
An outline of the incident:
According to the records of the investigation team, Prof. TJ Joseph, the former Head of the Malayalam Department at Newman College in Thodupuzha, was physically assaulted for allegedly insulting Prophet Muhammad in an internal examination question paper that he had set for the B. Com Second Semester examination at Newman College, Thodupuzha. On July 4, 2010, while the professor and his family were on their way to church on a Sunday, PFI terrorists severed his right palm and stabbed him in the left leg in front of his family. Subsequently, a case was initiated at Muvattupuzha Police Station and later taken over by the NIA.
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