Sukumara Kurup’s unfinished dream home to house government offices
ALAPPUZHA: Near the NH-66 stretch at Vandanam in Ambalappuzha lies an unfinished, abandoned ‘bungalow’ with a dark past. For it was none other than fugitive criminal Sukumara Kurup who began the construction of the building in the 1980s. It was to be his dream house.
However, work on the building ceased when Kurup went absconding in 1984 after murdering film representative NJ Chacko for insurance money. It is believed Kurup needed the money for the construction of the house.
Now, four decades later, the Ambalappuzha North panchayat in Alappuzha is planning to claim ownership of the house. It has approached the revenue department and the state government in this regard.
“We have approached the revenue department to get ownership of the house built on 20 cents of land. We have written to the government and the department after private parties tried to encroach on the land,” said panchayat president S Haris. He said the land belongs to an Ambalappuzha native, as Kurup, after buying the property, did not procure the encumbrance certificate from the revenue department.
“Kurup’s family tried to acquire ownership of the house and land, but failed as they did not have the proper documents. Since the place is lying abandoned, we filed a petition during the Nava Kerala Sadas event in Ambalappuzha assembly constituency last December. It was sent to the revenue department,” Haris said. Last week, officials from the taluk office inspected the place. Haris said if the panchayat gets the ownership, they plan to set up a village office and other offices in the 1,800 sq ft, two-storey building.
On January 21, 1984, Kurup killed Chacko and burnt his body in a car. Kurup, his brother-in-law Bhaskara Pillai, driver Ponnappan and Kurup’s aide Chinnakkal Shahu, a native of Chavakkad, are the accused in the case.
Chacko bore a resemblance to Kurup, and the crime was committed to get the Rs 8 lakh insurance money from a firm in the Gulf where Kurup worked after faking his death.
When police investigation revealed the crime, Kurup escaped from the country and has been at large and untraceable since 1984.