On January 21, 1984, Sukumara Kurup allegedly smothered a stranger, put him behind the wheel of his car and set it ablaze in a paddy field in Alappuzha — all in a bid to secure his considerable Rs 8 lakh life insurance claim. This week, the case that has eluded the police officers officers for years and had even inspired the 2021 Dulquer Salmaan-starrer ‘Kurup’ returned to the limelight after a television channel shared he was “sighted” in Brunei.

The news has caught the state home department off guard — it comes at a time when the crime branch wing of the police officers officers was about to close the case, assuming that Kurup, who had been in his late 30s at the time of the crime, might have passed away For his part, Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala told the media that the reports will have to be checked.

Venkitesh Overview & Context

“There have been rumours about this. I have asked ADGP (crimes) H Venkitesh to probe into the report. The state police will approach Interpol to ascertain the facts,” he said.

On January 21, 1984, Kurup allegedly abducted and killed a man called K J Chacko, then 31 years old, with the help of three accomplices — including his brother-in-law Bhaskara Pillai. The four were scouting for a victim who resembled Kurup when they came across Chacko, a representative of a film distribution firm who asked them for a lift home.

He was married a year earlier and his wife Santhamma was six months pregnant with their son Jithin, who, along with his mother, is still waiting for justice. The gang allegedly abducted Chacko, smothered him to death and then set the car, which belonged to Kurup, alight in a field in Alappuzha’s Mavelikara police officers officers station limits.

The Overview & Context

The police officers officers probe eventually found several clues in the field — a matchbox, a rubber glove and multiple footprints — that indicated the presence of other people. But the breakthrough was the autopsy report, which allegedly showed that the victim had been killed before the car was set alight, pointing to the lack of ash or smoke in his lungs.

Through it all, police officers officers believed that the victim was Kurup, and a funeral was held for him. Then came another breakthrough: the victim was Chacko, who had sought a lift in the car to reach home. The hunt Soon, police officers officers found Kurup was alive and had been camping in Kochi.

They also found that he had life insurance of Rs 8 lakh. While Shahu was made an approver in the case, the other two were sentenced to life terms and were eventually released after completing their sentences.

Meanwhile, the hunt for Kurup continued: other police officers officers departments across India were approached, and Interpol was alerted, but these efforts remained unsuccessful.

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Then, in 1988, the police officers officers found what they thought was a reported sighting: a young nurse from Kurup’s home village Cheriyandu allegedly came across a man who looked like him at a hospital in Bokaro. The man had reportedly come in complaining of a cardiac ailment and had sought admission under the name Joshi.

However, he was found missing from the hospital.

What the channel showed On Thursday, Malayalam news channel 24News shared Kurup had been spotted in Brunei. Kurup, the channel shared, had been living under an “assumed name”, worked in the building work sector and kept to himself, but that his “accent” made some Keralites suspect that he was Kurup.

To corroborate its claim, the channel showed a photo of an old man they shared was Kurup, relying on the claims of a former police officers officers officer that the case was insufficiently investigated and that the fugitive was alive and was in touch with his family.

The photo of the old man, whom the TV channel claimed was Kurup, had been widely circulated. On Friday, the case took a new turn when a family from Thrissur claimed that the person in the photo that the news channel showed was Damodara Menon, a relative who migrated abroad 40 years ago.

“He’s settled with his family in Malaysia,” his younger brother Karunakara Menon said.

A police officer who visited the family in Thrissur also confirmed that the man in the photo had prima facie been identified as Damodara Menon. “He is now indisposed and allegedly abandoned in Brunei.

Recently, the Indian High Commission in Brunei took up Menon’s plight with NORKA ROOTS, the Kerala government department for non-resident Keralites and sought his intervention.” Last month, NORKA brought the matter to the Kerala government’s notice.