Thiruvananthapuram: US missionary Joseph W Cooper, who was ordered to leave the country for preaching religion in violation of visa rules, left Thiruvananthapuram for Mumbai by a flight on January 22 morning, police sources said.

Cooper, injured in an attack by suspected Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) workers at Kilimannur on January 13, was discharged from the hospital on January 21.

The 67-year-old missionary from New Castle, USA, who is on a tourist visa, suffered a deep cut on his right palm when he and a local team of evangelists were attacked while returning from a gospel convention at a tribal colony at Koppam near Kilimannur town in the district.

District superintendent of police (Rural) T K Vinod Kumar, in his capacity as the Foreigners Registration Officer, had served orders to Cooper on January 20 to leave the country within seven days after he was prima facie found to have violated visa rules.

PTI