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NIA court convicts 6 PFI members for chopping Kerala professor’s palm in 13-year-old case
The special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court will pronounce the sentence on Thursday afternoon.
A special court in Kochi on Wednesday convicted six people and acquitted five others following the second-phase trial in the 2010 case in which a Malayalam professor’s palm was chopped off by members of now-banned radical Islamist outfit Popular Front of India (PFI).
Read here: 2010 hand chopping case: Special NIA court convicts 6 persons
The special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court will pronounce the sentence on Thursday afternoon.
The court underlined that charges of “terrorism” were confirmed in the case along with conspiracy, possessing weapons and destruction of vehicle. The case was first probed by the state police before being handed over to NIA. The accused were charged under stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) as well as relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Explosive Substances Act.
Special NIA court judge Anil K Bhaskar on Wednesday convicted Sajal, Nasar, Najeeb, Noushad, Moideenkunju and Ayub in the case. While Sajal was one of the seven accused involved in the attack on the professor, Nasar was identified as one of the main conspirators.
Those who were acquitted for lack of evidence were Shafeek, Aziz Odakkali, Muhammad Rafi, Subaid and Manzoor.
In the first phase, 31 people had faced trial in the case, of which 13 were convicted — including 10 for offences under the UAPA as well as the Explosive Substances Act and IPC, and three were found guilty of harbouring the offenders — while others acquitted. The 10 convicts under UAPA were handed jail sentences of eight years each. NIA has petitioned the Kerala high court to enhance the punishment of those convicted in the first phase and examine the acquittal of others.
However, Ashamannur Sawad, the first accused in the case who chopped off the professor’s palm with a machete, is still absconding and is reportedly based in the UAE.
On July 4, 2010, TJ Joseph, the former head of Malayalam department of Newman College in Thodupuzha, was waylaid and attacked by a group of PFI workers when he was returning home, along with his sister and mother, after attending the Sunday mass at a church at Muvattupuzha in Ernakulam district. The PFI members chopped off Joseph’s right palm and stabbed his left leg with a hatchet. He was assaulted for allegedly using the name of Prophet Mohammed in a blasphemous manner in an internal exam question paper.
Read here: NIA conduct raids in Patna, Darbhanga at suspected PFI hideouts; one held
After the verdict on Wednesday, Joseph told reporters that he does not believe that punishment for the accused is equal to justice for the victims. “The country’s justice is being delivered, that’s all. The reality is that I have no like or dislike if the accused are punished or not,” he said. “Those who attacked me are also victims in a way because they believed in a primitive justice system. I just wish that people tear away such primitive belief systems and lead lives according to scientific temperament, love and brotherhood.”
Joseph’s autobiography “Attupokatha Ormakal”, which was later translated in English titled “A thousand cuts”, won Kerala Sahitya Akademi award last year.
