Police release sketches of two accused in lecturer attack case

Police said the sketches were prepared after talking to main witnesses, including the sister of lecturer T J Joseph who was with him when he was attacked on July 4.

Director General of Police Jacob Punnonose today held discussions with IGP B Sandhya, Rural SP T Vikaram and SIT head P N Unniraja regarding the progress of investigation.
Punnose told reporters at Aluva, near here, that he was satisfied with the probe's progress and the team had received specific information about the main accused.
There was no need to entrust the investigation to the National Investigation agency, he said.

The records seized from the offices and hideouts of PFI, a Muslim radical outfit, were being verified, he said.

The SIT probing the case had earlier released look out notices against three accused, who are absconding.

Police teams have gone to Karnataka and Tamil Nadu also.
Joseph was attacked when he was returning from a church and his right hand was chopped off for preparing a question paper containing alleged derogatory references to Prophet Mohammed.

Meanwhile, a meeting of the Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI), the political arm of the PFI, was held in the presence of police. The meeting was stopped for a while after the participants objected to the police presence but it continued later, police sources said.
The meeting decided to conduct protest marches in the state from July 26-31 against the continuing police raids. Activists from Idukki, Ernakulam, Thrissur and Kottayam participated.