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.
However, subsequent police investigation unearthed the conspiracy and revealed that the victim was Chacko. The punishment was confirmed later by the high court. 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. 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. Both are out of jail after finishing their sentences.
The Keralam crime branch team also confirmed that the photo was that of Menon, not Kurup. 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. “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. “The photo circulating on TV and social media is that of my elder brother Damodara Menon. Reports that it is Kurup are baseless. 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.
I submitted a report attesting the same, but no further action was taken at the time,” Akbar said. He is based in Brunei and is in his 80s,” a family member, Karunakara Menon, told local media. The investigation on Kurup will continue,” he said.
