A special NIA court of Kerala on Thursday handed down life imprisonment to three of the six persons convicted in the sensational 2010 case in which a college professor’s hand was chopped off.
Special NIA court judge Anil K Bhaskar handed down the life imprisonment sentence to Sajil, Nasar and Najeeb after convicting them on Wednesday for various offences under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), Indian Penal Code, and the Explosive Substances Act in the second phase of the trial. In the first phase of the trial, ten individuals were convicted for offences under the UAPA, Explosive Substances Act, and IPC, while three others were found guilty of harbouring the offenders.
The court noted during the conviction that Sajil, the second accused, participated in the attack, while Nasar, the third accused and main conspirator, and Najeeb, the fifth accused, planned the “terrorist act” but did not directly participate in it.
The attack occurred when the professor was returning home with his family after attending Sunday mass at a church in Muvattupuzha, Ernakulam district. A group of seven attackers pulled him out of the vehicle, assaulted him, and the main accused, Savad, who is still absconding, chopped off his right hand.
According to the initial police investigation, the accused intended to kill prof. TJ Joseph due to alleged derogatory remarks about a religion in a question paper he had set for the B.Com semester examination at Newman College.