KOCHI: Sources close to the NIA said that Savad, the first accused in the hand-chopping case, had spent 8 years in Kannur while he lived in hiding. He lived in three places in the district. After getting married from Kasaragod, Savad first moved to Manna in Valapatnam. After some years, he shifted to the Vilakkode region in Iritty. He later moved to Beram. All these areas were areas of Popular Front influence.

It is indicated that Savad had received protection and financial assistance from the organization. However, this assistance was affected when the organization was banned in the country. He led his life by doing carpentry work in Beram. It is reported that former Popular Front leaders and workers who helped Savad have fled from Kannur.

After chopping the hand of Prof TJ Joseph, Savad first reached a place near Mangalore near the Karnataka-Kerala border. After staying there for four years, he went to Kasargod and started living in hiding.

Meanwhile, Savad was caught on the basis of a tip-off received following a lookout notice issued by the NIA. Savad's name was in the lookout notice issued in December for the Popular Front workers involved in the murder of Palakkad RSS former Sharirik Shikshan Pramukh Sreenivasan. Following this, NIA received some information on NIA's WhatsApp number. Upon investigating, the NIA found that Savad was living under the name of Shahjahan in a rented house in Beram in Mattanur, Kannur.