NIA Chargesheets PFI Cadre in Kerala Professor's Palm Chopping Case

The NIA has filed charges against Shafeer C, a member of the banned PFI, for sheltering the main suspect in the 2010 Kerala professor palm chopping incident. Shafeer's role included providing a false identity and job for the assailant, Savad. The case involved 19 PFI members and links to global terror.

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has filed charges against Shafeer C, a member of the banned Popular Front of India (PFI), in connection with the 2010 incident involving the gruesome assault on Kerala professor TJ Joseph, where his palm was chopped off. The charges, under several sections of the IPC and UA(P)A, allege that Shafeer provided shelter to the main accused, Savad, by securing him a job with a false identity.

Savad was originally chargesheeted in 2011 for targeting Joseph, then head of the Malayalam department at Newman College. The attack, executed by PFI operatives, was supposedly in retaliation for mockery of Prophet Mohammed in an exam paper. The assailants not only severed Joseph's right palm but also detonated a bomb to instigate public fear before making their escape. So far, 19 individuals, all linked to the banned PFI, have been convicted in the case.

The Indian government proscribed the PFI and its affiliates on September 28, 2022, under an anti-terrorism law, citing connections with global terror outfits like ISIS. In February 2023, Home Minister Amit Shah stated that the PFI fostered 'radicalism and religious bigotry' and warned that delaying action would have jeopardized national security.