New Delhi: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Monday filed a charge-sheet against Shafeer C, a member of the banned Popular Front of India (PFI), for providing shelter to a key accused in the 2010 Kerala professor's palm chopping case.

According to an official statement by the NIA, Shafeer knowingly harboured Savad, the prime assailant in the attack on Professor T J Joseph, and facilitated a fake identity card for him. The chargesheet was submitted before a court in Kochi.

The case dates back to 2010, when Professor Joseph, then head of the Malayalam department at Newman College, Thodupuzha, was attacked by PFI members in Muvattupuzha, Ernakulam. The assault, allegedly in retaliation for a question paper he set that was deemed blasphemous, involved severing his hand and detonating a bomb to instil fear before the attackers fled.

A charge-sheet against Savad was initially filed in 2011. So far, 19 individuals—identified as PFI leaders or cadres—have been convicted in the case.

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