ALAPPUZHA: More than four decades after one of Kerala’s most sensational murder cases, the story of fugitive Sukumara Kurup has resurfaced after the crime branch decided to review long-pending and unresolved criminal investigations. Crime branch officers last week re-recorded the statement of Rethnamma Sivarajan, 60, a native of Chingoli near Haripad, who had claimed in the late 1980s that she had seen Kurup at a hospital in present-day Jharkhand. Rethnamma said she repeated before the new investigation team the statement she had given in 1988.
“I strongly believe the patient admitted to Bokaro General Hospital under the name ‘Joshy’ was Sukumara Kurup,” Rethnamma said. “I was a first-year nursing student at the hospital. My seniors informed me that a Malayali patient had been admitted to the ICU. Based on their description, I suspected it could be Kurup.” She said she later met him in the ICU and introduced herself as a native of Cheriyanad, adding that she knew Kurup’s father, Sivashankara Kurup.
“After I said this, he remained silent. Soon after, hospital authorities shifted him to the general ward. Within a few hours, he disappeared,” she recalled.
The incident was reported to the police, who arrived at the hospital and recorded her statement. After she returned to her native place on leave, state police questioned her on several occasions regarding the incident, she said. Rethnamma, who joined the hospital as nursing staff and retired from service this March, lives with her family in Chingoli.
Sources in the department said the crime branch is reviewing unresolved cases across the state, and as part of the exercise, investigators have been re-examining old case records and re-recording statements of important witnesses, including Rethnamma.
However, the crime branch has clarified that no fresh reinvestigation into the Sukumara Kurup case has been ordered. Officers said the scrutiny of old files is part of a routine review being undertaken during the special drive to dispose of pending investigations.
The case remains one of the oldest unresolved criminal cases pending before the Mavelikkara court. Former Alappuzha Crime Branch SP Shoukath Ali had reopened the investigation to trace Kurup’s whereabouts, but in vain.
The case dates back to January 21, 1984, when film representative N J Chacko of Thathampally, Alappuzha, was murdered as part of an insurance fraud allegedly masterminded by Kurup.
Investigators alleged that Kurup, along with his brother-in-law Bhaskara Pillai, driver Ponnappan and associate Chinnakkal Shahu of Chavakkad, lured Chacko into Kurup’s car after offering him a lift from Karuvatta to Alappuzha. Chacko had been waiting for a bus after collecting film distribution proceeds from Sree Hari Theatre, Karuvatta.Police said Chacko, who bore a striking resemblance to Kurup, was strangled to death inside the vehicle. The car was then driven to the Kunnam paddy polder in Thazhakara panchayat, his body placed in the driver’s seat, and the car set ablaze to stage a fatal accident.
According to the prosecution, the murder was planned so that Kurup could fake his death and enable the claim of an insurance policy worth `8 lakh linked to his employment in the Gulf. Bhaskara Pillai and Ponnappan allegedly spread the story that Kurup had died in an accident.
However, the investigation team led by the then Mavelikkara SI, P Thankachan, grew suspicious of the circumstances surrounding the fire. A glove recovered from the scene, believed to be of foreign origin, became a crucial clue.
Police questioned Ponnappan and Bhaskara Pillai and later visited the residence of Kurup’s wife at Cheriyanad. Officers reportedly noticed burns on Ponnappan and Bhaskara Pillai, which exposed the alleged conspiracy behind Chacko’s murder.
By then, Kurup had fled. He has remained one of Kerala’s most wanted fugitives since 1984.