The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Tuesday night arrested Savad, the prime accused in the sensational Professor TJ Joseph hand-chopping case, after 13 years.

Based on a tip-off, the fugitive-tracking wing of the NIA raided a rented house in Beram near Mattannur in Kannur district on Tuesday night and took Savad, who chopped off the right hand of Professor TJ Joseph in 2010, into custody. He was brought to the NIA office in Kochi on Wednesday.

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Savad had been staying with his wife and two children in Beram for the past five months and worked as a carpenter there. He had introduced himself as Shajahan to neighbours. His wife is a Kasargod native. Before shifting to Beram, Savad stayed in different parts of Kannur.

A native of Asamannoor in Ernakulam district, Savad (38) had allegedly chopped off the right hand of TJ Joseph, who was a professor at Newman College at Thodupuzha in Idukki district at that time. The attack was carried out by a group of activists of the now-banned Popular Front of India (PFI) when Joseph was returning home with his family after attending a Sunday Mass at a church in Muvattupuzha in Ernakulam district on 4 July, 2010.

According to the NIA, the reference to Prophet Muhammad in a BCom exam paper set by Prof Joseph in March 2010 was cited as the reason that led the accused to attack the professor.

Savad fled to Bengaluru after the incident and remained underground for 13 years. The NIA had announced a reward of Rs 10 lakh last year for information leading to Savad’s whereabouts. The Interpol too had issued a red corner notice against him. Among the 54 accused persons in the case, Savad was the sole remaining individual yet to be arrested in the case.

According to the chargesheet filed by the NIA in 2013, Savad smashed the windshields of Prof Joseph’s car and forcefully pulled him out before attacking him with a chopper, knives, and a small axe. He and his accomplices hurled country-made bombs to prevent Joseph’s family members and others from rescuing him. While severing Joseph’s right hand, Savad reportedly uttered: “The hand that has insulted Islam shall be of no use in the future.”

During the first phase of the trial in 2015, 13 accused were convicted while 18 were acquitted. In the second phase of the trial in 2023, six were convicted and five were acquitted. All the accused, including Savad, were members of the PFI which was banned in 2022.

Reacting to the development, Prof Joseph said that Savad’s arrest in Kannur pleased him as a citizen but not as a victim. He added that the arrest did not affect the conspirators at large.

“I am glad that the police and the law enforcement system arrested the man who inflicted the most grievous injuries on me. However, as a victim, I do not feel elated. People like Savad are only foot soldiers. Most of the master brains behind the chopping of my hand are still at large,” Prof Joseph said. He added that there was no guarantee that such ghastly acts of terror would not occur again as long as the real conspirators were not taken to task.