The assailants had chopped off the hand of the professor for allegedly ridiculing Prophet Mohammed in a Malayalam question paper prepared for the internal examination of B. Com students at Newman College, Thodupuzha, Idukki district. The accused had deemed the question as provocative and had carried out the daylight attack on the professor in the presence of his family members on July 4, 2010. The assailants had also hurled a bomb to spread terror among the public before escaping from the scene.