NIA arrests last accused in PFI hand-chopping case after 13 years

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Wednesday arrested the key and last absconding accused, who had been in hiding for over 13 years, in connection with the mutilation of a college professor's hand in Kerala, for alleged blasphemy.

The right hand of T J Joseph, professor of Newman College in Thodupuzha in Idukki district, was chopped off by activists of the now banned radical Islamic outfit Popular Front of India (PFI) on July 4, 2010.

The accused -- Savad -- had been on the run for the last 13 years and was carrying a reward of Rs 10 lakh for his arrest, an NIA spokesperson said.

He was nabbed from Mattannur in the northern Kerala district of Kannur on Wednesday morning following sustained efforts, the spokesperson said.

Reacting to the development, Joseph said that he was not concerned much with the arrest of the prime accused in the case as he still believes that the main culprits, the "masterminds" behind the attack on him, were still in hiding.

"The investigation has not reached them. It indicates that our legal system has not grown to that extent," he told reporters outside his residence in Thodupuzha in Idukki district of the state.

The professor said that the arrest might come as a relief for the police, but his interest in the matter was only as that of any other individual.

He also said that he does not believe the arrest or punishing of an accused results in justice for the victims.

"It only results in the implementation of the law of the land. It may also quench the thirst for revenge of the victims or their families. However, as I have said in the past, it does not give back what has been lost. Therefore, it does not bring justice to the victim," he said.

Asked whether he could identify Savad, Joseph said he could as he still remembers the attack by the prime accused.

In July last year, an NIA court in Kerala sentenced to life imprisonment three of the six people convicted in the sensational 2010 case, saying that it was a "terror act" for which the convicts "don't deserve any leniency".

The remaining three convicts were sentenced to three years for harbouring the offenders in the case.

The six were convicted by the court in the second phase of the trial in the case.

In the first phase of the trial, 10 people were convicted for offences under the UAPA as well as the Explosive Substances Act and the IPC, and three others were found guilty of harbouring the offenders.

The attack took place while the professor was returning home with his family after attending Sunday mass at a church in Muvattupuzha in Ernakulam district.

The attackers, a group of seven people, pulled the professor out of the vehicle, assaulted him and then his right hand was chopped off by the main accused Savad.

According to the police officials who initially probed the case, the accused wanted to kill Joseph for alleged derogatory remarks about a religion in a question paper he set for the BCom semester examination at Newman College.