Decades-old fugitive saga gets a twist as new lead turns to be false in Sukumara Kurup case

One winter morning in January 1984, Sukumara Kurup strangled a man who bore some resemblance to him, burnt his body near a field in Alappuzha and faked his own death – in the process committing one of India’s first insurance crimes.

The 38-year-old then vanished.

For over four decades, Kurup’s proven brutality and mythical escape became the subject of countless stories, movies, television plots and reams of neighbourhood gossip. The police believed it futile to search for the elusive fugitive.

Until now.

This week, a claim by a police officer who investigated the case in 2017 that Kurup was still alive in Brunei, and a photo of a hirsute man with neatly combed hair released by a Malayalam channel, kicked the police into action and rumour mills into overdrive – only for the authorities to conclude that one of Keralam’s most-wanted men was probably still in the wind, or dead.

The unlikely revival saga began with retired policeman Ali Akbar, a sub-inspector in the same station where the original first information report was filed in 1984 and who later reopened the case in 2017. Akbar claimed he had found Kurup alive, living as an Indian-origin Malaysian citizen, frequenting a particular hotel on most evenings.

“I, and another officer, travelled to a lot of places that were associated with Kurup’s life both in mufti and in uniform and collected a lot of evidence. We got information from some of his family members that he was indeed alive. I submitted a report attesting the same, but no further action was taken at the time,” Akbar said.

The former police officer said Kurup was living as an Indian-origin Malaysian citizen in Brunei for years and nudged the police to arrest him. “There is a hotel that he frequently visits, mostly in the evening hours. The information that I collected can be easily verified using modern technology,” he said.

Malayalam channel 24 News took the theory further, broadcasting photographs of a man it claimed as Kurup living in Brunei. The channel reported that Kurup worked in the construction sector, led an affluent life by pretending to be a Malayali-origin Malaysian citizen, and was in regular contact with his wife and son living in Abu Dhabi. The network alleged that the notorious fugitive was in his 80s and healthy.

But on Friday, a family based in Thrissur said that the man, whose photo and passport were aired on TV, was actually Damodara Menon, not Kurup.

“The photo circulating on TV and social media is that of my elder brother Damodara Menon. Reports that it is Kurup are baseless. He is based in Brunei and is in his 80s,” a family member, Karunakara Menon, told local media.

The Keralam crime branch team also confirmed that the photo was that of Menon, not Kurup. Bijoy Thomas, special branch assistant commissioner of police, visited the family in Thrissur to record their statement. “Preliminary findings show that it is Damodara Menon. We will relay it to higher authorities. The investigation on Kurup will continue,” he said.

Keralam home minister Ramesh Chennithala said he directed the crime branch to verify reports about Kurup, who was played by actor Dulquer Salmaan in an eponymously titled 2021 movie ‘Kurup’.

“I have instructed ADGP crime branch Venkatesh to investigate. The Keralam Police need to contact Interpol and find out the actual truth of the matter. Right now, what we have are just rumours. These are not verified facts,” the minister said.

Chennithala also denied Akbar’s claim that the former police officer submitted a report to the authorities stating Kurup was still alive. “It has been around 40 years now. What is there to suppress? In any case, let the investigation proceed, and the truth will come out. We don’t know yet whether this is true or false. In any case, the government has initiated the necessary actions,” he said.

The developments have held Keralam in a fever grip this week, adding another unlikely twist to the long saga.

Born Gopalakrishna Kurup in Cheriyanad near Alappuzha, Kurup is wanted in the 1984 murder of Chacko, a film representative.

According to the police, Kurup hatched a plot with his co-brother Bhaskara Pillai and two others to kill a man who held a physical resemblance to him, and claim the insurance payout by faking his own death.

In the early hours of January 22, 1984, police say Kurup kidnapped Chacko on the side of the national highway in a car, rendered him unconscious using liquor laced with ether, and strangled him to death. The group then scorched Chacko’s face to make him indistinguishable, put him in the front seat of a car and set fire to it near a paddy field, police said.

However, subsequent police investigation unearthed the conspiracy and revealed that the victim was Chacko. Though multiple teams of the police fanned out across the state and country looking for Kurup, he remained elusive. Bhaskara Pillai, Kurup’s co-brother and their driver Ponnappan were convicted by a sessions court and given life imprisonment. The punishment was confirmed later by the high court. Both are out of jail after finishing their sentences.

A Malayali nurse said she identified Kurup after he allegedly stumbled into a hospital in Ranchi in 1988, for treatment of a serious illness. Neither that claim nor that of any subsequent sighting has been confirmed.