Alappuzha: When the big-budget Malayalam movie, Dulquer Salman-starrer, Kurup got released on more than 1500 screens across the world, the story of a ghastly crime, an ever-elusive criminal mastermind, and an intelligent, yet gripping police investigation story is once again brought back to the minds of people of Kerala. No child grew up without listening to the trickeries of the criminal mastermind 'Sukumara Kurup', who still as per the police records, is an absconding murder accused.
Stories after stories, that could easily beat the script of any crime thriller movie made so far, appeared in the media during the late 80s to early 90s, till the whole curiosity slowly faded away from the public memory.
The Sreenath Rajendran movie 'Kurup' has dusted out those memories from the minds of the people and is once again creating curiosity in the minds of the younger generation, for whom Sukumara Kurup had almost become a mythical character.
A case that would have been just recorded as the death or murder of an NRI in police records became one of the most sensational murders and an ever-haunting crime thriller through an intelligent and scientific police investigation.
The Chacko Murder case
It was a misty morning on January 22, 1984. Passengers inside a car saw another car on fire and a person burning inside the car on the driving seat near the Kolllakadavu bridge at Kunnam on the Mavelikkara-Chengannur road. These passengers informed the locals about the incident and when people rushed to the spot, they found an ambassador car bearing registration number 'KLQ 7831', half-burnt, and a body still burning inside the car on the driving seat.
Police were informed and in the preliminary investigation, they found out that the car belonged to an NRI Sukumarakurup, a native of Cheriyanad. Police during a search at the scene of the incident, retrieved a matchbox, a pair of chappals, and rubber gloves. They also saw footmarks of someone in the paddy fields, in a pattern that indicated someone had panickily escaped from the spot.
Police covered the spot using cloth curtains and conducted the postmortem at the spot itself, as the body was not in a position to be carried to a hospital and was charred beyond recognition. The forensic surgeon was the first one to get a lead that later changed the course of the whole investigation. The forensic surgeon who did the postmortem noted that there was no wristwatch, chappals or rings on the body of the deceased, who is said to be an NRI who came on leave. The common attire of an NRI in Kerala was not complete without these accessories.
The postmortem, which analyzed each and every anatomical and chemical pieces of evidence possible, found out that the deceased was first murdered and then the body was burnt. The surgeon also found out remains of poison-laced alcohol in the stomach of the body and opined that it could have been the cause of death. However, the final report said the victim was strangulated to death and since the body was completely charred, no external marks could be established. Relatives of Sukumara Kurup then collected the body and cremated it.
The police investigation team, taking the inputs from the forensic surgeon, always had doubts about both the identity of the victim and suspected some foul play. During the investigation, they found burn marks on the hands of Sukumara Kurup's brother-in-law Baskara Kurup and interrogated him. During the first round of interrogation, Bhaskara Kurup confessed to having murdered Sukumara Kurup as he refused to return Rs.50,000 that was collected offering a job overseas.
DYSP Haridas, who was the investigation officer, was never ready to accept that the body was that of Sukumara Kurup. Unable to believe what Bhaskara Kurup had confessed, Haridas deployed two policemen in plain clothes near the house of Sukumar Kurup at Cherianad. The policemen on surveillance observed that the family and relatives of Kurup were living normally, with no emotions of losing someone close to them. Policemen even smelled the aroma of chicken curry made at the house, where someone had died two days ago.
Police decided to grill Bhaskara Kurup again and took him for interrogation. When police persisted Bhaskara Kurup finally blurted out the whole story about the murder. The story was the first of its kind that the Kerala police heard in its history. It was the marking of a criminal mastermind, the ever-elusive Sukumara Kurup.
Sukumara Kurup had a personal insurance policy for Rs. 50 lakhs in Abu Dhabi where he worked in a Marine company. Kurup convinced his brother-in-law that if he could prove that he was killed in an accident, he would get a huge amount from the insurance company. He along with his brother-in-law devised many plans for this. First, they tried to get a dead body that measured equal to Sukumara Kurup and also had physical similarities. Their plan was to burn this body along with the car of Mr. Kurup and to submit these documents to the insurance company, claiming that Mr. Kurup died in an accident.
They searched for such a body for some time but failed to get any. Then they devised a plan to murder someone who resembled Kurup in shape and size. When they were on the hunt for such a person, a young man waved at their car seeking a lift near Hari theatre at Karuvatta. The duo took the youth into the car and drove away. Kurup and his brother-in-law then made the youth drink Ether mixed alcohol forcefully and strangulated him to death using a towel. They then took the body to the house of Bhaskara Panicker at Cheriyanad and burnt the face and head of the body using petrol. Then they took the body in the car to Kunnam, kept the body in the driving seat, and burnt the car along with it.
Police then started searching for the missing persons in the area and found out that a film representative named Chacko went missing on the day of the murder. When police questioned Chacko's wife, she told the policemen that Chacko had gone to Hari theatre near Karuvatta to deliver the film boxes. Police then confirmed the victim as Chacko. They exhumed the body from the crematorium and did a re-postmortem. Scientific methods like superimposition were used along with other tests and police confirmed that the body was that of Chacko.
But the investigation then hit a wall as Bhaskara Kurup told the police that Sukumara Kurup has left for Abu Dhabi, promising to return with the insurance money. Police did everything that they could do to locate Sukumara Kurup, who still as per records is absconding.
Many stories, many possibilities, and many allegations all came, even against the DYSP who investigated the case. But all such stories lived for some time and died a natural death and Sukumara Kurup continued to mock the policing system in the country.
Police got an Interpol red corner alert for the accused and later declared him as a fugitive and attached all his properties.
Chacko's wife Shanthamma was pregnant when he was murdered. His son Jithin had first raised objections against the movie Kurup, alleging it was an attempt to glorify the murderer of his father. However, the cinema crew took him into confidence and had shown him the reel well before the release. He then came out in support of the movie, saying that Kurup had not just murdered his father but had committed many other crimes that the movie would tell the people.
