The agency informed the NIA Special Court in Kochi that a further probe is needed to collect more scientific evidence and identify others in the wider conspiracy.
Published Nov 23, 2025 | 10:37 AM ⚊ Updated Nov 23, 2025 | 10:37 AM
A file picture of Joseph with wife Salomi, who committed suicide unable to withstand the sufferings.
Synopsis: Nearly 15 years after the brutal palm chopping attack on college professor TJ Joseph in Kerala, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) is preparing a fresh round of investigation to check whether more members of the banned PFI were involved.
Nearly 15 years after the brutal palm chopping attack on college professor TJ Joseph in Kerala, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) is preparing a fresh round of investigation to check whether more members of the banned PFI were involved.
The move follows the arrest of the prime accused, Savad, last year. During custodial interrogation, the NIA says Savad admitted that several PFI operatives helped hide him and arranged jobs for him in Tamil Nadu and Kerala while he remained underground.
The agency informed the NIA Special Court in Kochi that a further probe is needed to collect more scientific evidence and identify others in the wider conspiracy. The court has approved the request.
According to the chargesheet, on 4 July 2010, a group of PFI members attacked Joseph, then a Malayalam professor at Newman College, Thodupuzha, in the Idukki district. Savad allegedly chopped off his right palm, declaring that the hand that insults Islam would not be used again.
Savad evaded arrest for nearly 14 years before being caught in Kannur on 10 January 2024, living under the alias Shajahan.
The NIA has chargesheeted 27 people under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), the Explosive Substances Act and the Indian Penal Code (IPC). 19 accused were convicted in two phases, in 2015 and 2023. With Savad’s absconding earlier, his case was separated and refiled.
The latest investigation points to PFI worker Shaffer C, who allegedly sheltered Savad in Chakkad and Mattannur from 2020 until his arrest. He has now been added as the 55th accused and remanded.
Savad’s lawyer, however, claims the fresh probe is only meant to delay the pending trials.
The incident occurred in July 2010, and, since then, the sensational case that shocked the whole nation has remained alive, with courts punishing most of the other accused and directing the investigators to speed up the process of finding Savad.
The attack occurred while Joseph was returning home with his family after attending Sunday Mass at a church close to his residence located between Thodupuzha and Muvattupuzha. The attackers pulled the professor out of the vehicle, assaulted him, and then chopped off his right hand.
According to the initial probe by the police, the accused wanted to kill Joseph for what they deemed were “derogatory religious remarks” in a question paper he set for the BCom semester examination at Newman College in Thodupuzha.
The prosecution said the attackers comprised a group of seven people who had pulled the professor out of his vehicle and assaulted him. The main accused, Savad, chopped off his right hand.
A special NIA court awarded life sentences to three people in the case last year. The second accused, Sajil (36), the third accused, MK Nasar (46) and the fifth accused, KA Najeeb (42), are the three people undergoing life terms now.
A three-year jail term was awarded to the three other convicts — PP Moideen Kunju (60), MK Naushad (48), and PM Ayoob (48). Five others accused of conspiring in the crime were acquitted for want of evidence.
(Edited by Muhammed Fazil with inputs from Sreelakshmi Soman.)
