Kochi: The special NIA court here on Thursday awarded life sentence to three people in the controversial Thodupuzha hand-chopping case. Second accused Sajil (36), third accused M K Nasar (46) and fifth accused K A Najeeb (42) are the three people who are sentenced to life term.
The case pertains to the brutal attack on Malayalam professor T J Joseph by Islamic fundamentalists.
The court also slapped a penalty of Rs 50,000 on the three.
While convicting the three, the court had noted that second accused Sajil took part in the attack while third accused Nasar, who was the main conspirator in the case, and fifth accused Najeeb had planned the "terrorist act" but did not take part in it.
Six people were found guilty in the case on Wednesday, Three-year jail term has been awarded to the other three convicts- P P Moideen Kunju (60), M K Naushad (48) and P M Ayoob (48).
Special NIA court judge Anil K Bhaskar found the six activists of banned radical Islamic outfit Popular Front of India (PFI) guilty of murder attempt, conspiracy and various other offences under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) in the second phase of the trial in the case.
Some of the accused were also held guilty of offences under the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA). It acquitted the five other accused in the case.
In the first phase, 31 accused had faced trial and of them, the court had in April 2015 convicted 10 for offences under the UAPA as well as the Explosive Substances Act and the IPC and found three others guilty of harbouring the offenders.
The court had acquitted 18 others in the case back then.
The right hand of T J Joseph, professor of Newman College in Thodupuzha in Idukki district, was chopped off allegedly by activists of now outlawed Islamic outfit PFI on July 4, 2010.
First accused still absconding
The attack took place while he was returning home with his family after attending a Sunday mass at a church in Muvattupuzha in Ernakulam district.
The attackers, a group of seven people, pulled the professor out of the vehicle, assaulted him and then his right hand was chopped off by main accused Savad who is still absconding.
According to the police that initially probed the case, the accused wanted to kill Joseph for derogatory religious remarks in a question paper he set for BCom semester examination in Newman College.