The day was July 4, 2010. 55-year-old T J Joseph, professor at Malayalam Department, was returning home with his mother and sister after Sunday Mass in Muvattupuzha. It was a usual rainy day in the southern state of Kerala, wherein the monsoon season was at its peak.  

Read More: TJ Joseph hand-chopping case: NIA nabs key accused from Kannur after 13 years

Before he reached his residence, a mini van suddenly took a swift turn and blocked the road. In a matter of minutes, Joseph and his family experienced one of the most defining moments of their life.

The door of the van slid open, and several men jumped out and rushed towards Joseph's car. One man carried an axe. While others surrounded the car, the man carrying the axe smashed the window, unlocked the door, and dragged Joseph out onto the road. The assailant chopped off his right hand and stabbed him in the left thigh. When his wife and her mother attempted to stop the assault, the perpetrators struck them, detonated crude bombs, and fled the area.

Neighbours rushed him to the hospital while carrying his severed hand inside an ice-packed bag. After nearly 16 hour-long surgery, the doctors stitched back his severed hand. In his hospital bed, Joseph spoke to the media and questioned what he had done wrong to face such a punishment. 

In March that year, Joseph first came under the lens of extremist groups after he set a question paper in the Malayalam internal examination for BCom students of Newman college. The question was to punctuate a dialogue between a character and god. The passage was adapted from a book on screenplays written by film director P.T. Kunju Muhammed. According to Joseph, he only renamed the character Muhammed as a tribute to the film director. However, critics misinterpreted the conversation as the one between God and the Islamic Prophet Muhammad, leading to a huge uproar. Later, he faced a police case and was suspended from college. 

Amidst these developments, he came under the brutal attack of the extremists in Muvattupuzha. The incident created a huge public uproar in Kerala, subsequently leading to a probe by the Kerala Police and later by the National Investigation Agency (NIA). 

Later Developments

The case featured 54 accused. A total of 37 persons were charged, with 31 facing trial. In 2015, the NIA Special Court convicted 13 of the 31 suspects while acquitting the remaining 18.

The NIA court had found six PFI activists guilty of murder attempt, conspiracy and various other offences in the second phase of the trial in July 2023. It had acquitted five others accused in the case for lack of evidence. However, the prime accused, Savad, who is said to have chopped Joseph's hand, remained at large, away from the eyes of police and NIA officials. 

On Wednesday, NIA finally nabbed him from a hideout in Mattannur, Kannur, thirteen years after the incident in Muvattupuzha.