Kerala prof whose hand was chopped 13 years ago speaks: ‘Key attacker arrested but real conspirators still free’

The National Investigation Agency, which has been probing the case, on Tuesday night arrested a key accused in the case, Savad (38), from Mattannur in Kannur, where he was living as a fugitive. Disguising his identity, Savad lived as a Shajahan and worked as a carpenter.

All other 40-odd accused in the case were arrested in the years following the incident. In 2015, in the first phase of trial, 13 were convicted, while 18 were acquitted. In the second phase of trial in 2023, six were convicted and five acquitted. All the accused, including Savad, were members of the Popular Front of India, which was banned in 2022.

However, Savad, a native of Ernakulam rural district, remained elusive even though security agencies conducted extensive searches in India and abroad, and announced a bounty of Rs 10 lakh.

The victim of the incident, billed as the first terrorist attack in Kerala by security agencies, is still living under police security at his house near Muvattupuzha in Ernakulam rural district. An assistant sub-inspector and a civil police officer are on duty at his house round the clock and they escort him during journeys. His attack was one of the cases that led to the ban on the Popular Front of India.

Joseph, who retired from Newman College at Thodupuzha in Idukki district, said, “He (Savad) is the person who had inflicted maximum injury on me. In the case diary and for the investigating agencies, he is the first accused. But for me, the key accused are those who made Savad attack me, those who hatched the conspiracy. Savad used an axe to chop my palm. He was also a weapon in the hands of the real culprits. I don’t differentiate between the roles of Savad and the weapon he used to attack me.”

“The investigating agencies are yet to reach the conspirators. I don’t think they will. Police, investigating agencies and the government would face pressure in such cases of extremism in which religion is involved. I know the probe into the conspiracy behind the crime did not make any headway,” he said.

“But we can find solace that the law of the land is being implemented. In that case, the arrest is appreciated and I welcome it as a citizen of the country,” said Joseph, who now addresses meetings related to free thinking and fighting against extremism.

“We have to emerge as modern citizens. When I was attacked in 2010 in a savage manner, the Catholic Church was silent, with a section of them backing my suspension from the job. Now I see a section of the Church has taken an extreme stand. I am against all kinds of extremism,” he said.

Joseph, who lives with son, said he has forgotten the incident and its wounds. “Every day, I think about how to make life positive. I am looking ahead, not behind. The police protection has become part of my life. They are like a shadow. But I don’t fear any attack.” His daughter, a nurse, is settled abroad.