Kannur: For 13 years various intelligence agencies have been searching for Savad Meerankutty who had absconded after chopping the hand of then Newman College Malayalam teacher T J Joseph.
While many thought Savad could not be caught anymore, he was living as a carpenter at Mattannur in Kannur with a fake name.
Savad was taken into custody by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) from a rented house at Beram in Mattannur. His neighbours said that he was taken into custody by a group of seven-member team who reached the house around 3 am on Wednesday (January 10).
They said he was living here as a carpenter under the false name of Shajahan for the two years. He has been working at Koorimukku for the past eight months, they said. His wife and two children were with him.
Neighbours said he was married from Kasaragod. The couple had two young children with the youngest less than one year old. One of the neightbour said Savad's father-in law was an SDPI activist.
Neighbours said Savad did not have much contact with the locals. At first, he was hiding in Vilakode in Kannur district. Later he moved to Beram. At no point did they suspect that he was the accused in one of the most sensation cases in Kerala.
On the run since 2010
On July 4, 2010, when the crime took place, the Crime Branch found that Savad had escaped to Bengaluru from Aluva. It was rumoured that he had gone to Nepal and from there to Afghanistan.
After the NIA took over the case, it had received information that Savad was seen in Nepal with the mastermind of the attack M K Nasser, who later surrendered. It was also said that Savad had reached Afghanistan after Nasser surrendered in the case.
The investigation team then speculated that Savad might be staying abroad under a different name by filing fake travel documents as an Afghan national.
In March 2023, NIA announced a reward of Rs 10 lakh for anyone who could help find Savad. Initially, the agency had announced Rs 4 lakh as a reward, but the amount was increased by Rs 6 lakh when no information was forthcoming.
