Terming it a “terror act”, a special NIA court in Kochi on Thursday sentenced three persons to life imprisonment in the sensational hand-chopping case in Kerala.
Three others were given three years in jail in the 2010 attack case, wherein the right-hand palm of a college professor was chopped off by the members of the now-banned PFI, after accusing him of blasphemy.
The court, which had found the six guilty on Wednesday and pronounced the quantum of punishments on Thursday.
At the time of the attack on July 4, 2010, Prof T J Joseph was a faculty of Newman College at Thodupuzha.
Sajil, M K Nasar and Najeeb K A were awarded life sentences and a fine of Rs 50,000 each was also imposed on them. The court also slapped a fine of Rs 4 lakh on the convicts; the amount will be used to recompense the professor. The accused were found guilty under various sections of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, Explosives Act and Indian Penal Code.
The court observed that the attack on the professor was a challenge to the secular fabric of the country. An attempt was made to establish a parallel religion-based judicial system, which was against the Constitution. The court also termed the attack as an ‘uncivilised act’ that could not be countenanced at all.
Joseph said it was high time such primitive extremist ideologies were eradicated from society. He said the real culprits of the crime were those who were propagating such ideologies.