Kochi: A court here has permitted the NIA to conduct a further probe into a Popular Front of India (PFI) activist who allegedly sheltered the prime accused in the 2010 case involving the chopping of Professor T J Joseph's palm .

P K Mohandas, Judge of the Special Court for NIA cases, granted permission following a petition filed by the agency on November 20.

Professor Joseph of Newman College, Thodupuzha, was attacked by a group who chopped off his right palm, accusing him of religious blasphemy in a question paper he prepared on July 2010.

The case, later taken over by the National Investigation Agency, resulted in the conviction of 19 accused persons.

The first accused, Savad, who allegedly chopped Joseph's palm, was arrested from Berram, Mattannur in Kannur in January 2024, where

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