KOCHI: An NIA court in Kochi has found six persons associated with the now-banned Popular Front of India (PFI) guilty in the 2010 case over the gruesome attack on Prof T J Joseph, in which his right hand was chopped off. Five others have been acquitted.
Judge Anil K Bhaskar will pronounce the quantum of the sentence at 3 PM on Thursday. This was the second-phase trial in the case involving 11 accused who were arrested after 2015 when the first phase concluded. The same court convicted 13 and exonerated 18 in the initial trial.
The court on Wednesday convicted second-accused Sajil, 36, of Randarkara, Muvattupuzha, who was part of the gang that attacked Prof Joseph; M K Nasar, 48, of Kunjunnikkara, Aluva, a key conspirator; Najeeb K A, 42, of Uliyannoor, Aluva; M K Noushad, 48, and P P Moideen, 60, of Kunjunnikkara; and P M Ayoob, 48, of Thaikkattukara, Aluva.
Shafeeq, 31, of Odakkali; Azeez Odakkali, 36, of Kuruppampadi; Mohammad Rafi, 40, of Thottakkattukara; Subair T P alias Subu, 40, of Veliyathunad, Aluva; and Mansoor, 50, of Kunnatheri, Choornikkara, were exonerated after the court held that the prosecution had failed to prove their involvement in any manner.
The first accused, Savad, 33, of Nooleli Kara, is absconding even after 13 years of the gruesome incident. The NIA has announced a Rs 10 lakh bounty for his arrest. The court also cancelled the bail of Sajil and Najeeb, who were later shifted to the Ernakulam district jail in Kakkanad. Nazar has been in judicial custody for the past seven-and-a-half years
Sajil actively participated in the attack: Court
Noushad, Moideen, and Ayoob were allowed to continue on bail for bailable offences IPC 202 (intentionally omitted to give information about an offence) and 212 (harbouring an offender). “Sajil was a party to the conspiracy agreement as well as a member of the terrorist gang constituted by the conspirators to do the homicidal attack on T J Joseph and had actively participated in the act.
He was a direct participant in the said attack as an active member of a seven-member execution team, which attacked with a common object,” the court order said. “Nazar was the key conspirator and the leader of the terrorist gang who controlled the entire activities, which continued even to the post-conspiracy stage,” it observed.
As part of the trial, the court examined 228 witnesses, more than 800 documents, and 227 material objects. Advocates P C Noushad and P K Abdurahiman represented the accused. Advocate Sindhu Ravishankar appeared for the NIA. On July 4, 2010, Prof Joseph of Newman College, Thodupuzha, and his family were attacked in a car near their house in Muvattupuzha by a seven-member gang.
The attackers dragged Joseph out of the car and chopped off his right hand with an axe. Joseph drew the wrath of extremist elements who claimed a question paper prepared by him had insulted the Prophet. The accused were charged under various sections of the IPC, the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, and the Explosive Substances Act.
‘Pain is the same for everyone,’ court reminds Sajil
In a deeply poignant moment on Wednesday, the NIA court reminded a key accused of the pain incurred by Prof T J Joseph in losing his wife. NIA judge Anil K Bhaskar was making a verbal observation while hearing the accused before reserving his sentence.
During the final hearing, second-accused Sajil told the court that he is the sole breadwinner of a family with many ailing members and sought leniency in sentencing. Sajil was part of the seven-member gang that attacked Prof Joseph on July 4, 2010.
Judge Bhaskar reminded Sajil of the report and statements that were submitted during the trial, which suggested that Sajil had cheered on learning of Prof Joseph’s wife Salomi’s death in 2014. The judge concluded his reply by saying, “Pain is the same for everyone.”
“Sajil has denied cheering after the death of Joseph’s wife. We don’t know the facts,” his lawyer P C Noushad told the court. The alleged incident seems to have occurred when Sajil was absconding and living in Kozhikode, he added.
Noushad said he expects a maximum punishment of 10 years for Sajil and M K Nazar, referring to the sentence granted by the court to 13 people in the first phase of the trial in 2015.
NIA senior prosecutor Arjun Ambalapatta submitted that the accused should not be given a sentence less than life imprisonment. “The act of the accused was Talibanism, to which no lenience should be shown,” he said.
‘Punishing perpetrators will not bring justice’
Reacting to the judgment, Prof T J Joseph said he does not accept the argument that convicting the perpetrators of the crime will bring justice to the victim. “I don’t nurse any grudge towards those who attacked me. They were only tools in the hands of people who conspired and ordered the attack,” he said.