Dulquer Salmaan’s ‘Kurup’ Releases Tomorrow. Know The Story Of Sukumara Kurup, A Fugitive For 37 Yrs Now

No one knows if Sukumara Kurup is alive or dead. His story is almost a folklore in Kerala, and the makers of 'Kurup' have waited for a theatrical release amid Covid instead of taking the OTT route.

Dulquer Salmaan’s ‘Kurup’ Releases Tomorrow. Know The Story Of Sukumara Kurup, A Fugitive For 37 Yrs Now

Kozhikode: Malayalam film Kurup, starring Dulquer Salmaan, is all set to release in theatres on Friday, November 12.

In the making for a while, the film helmed by director Srinath Rajendran is based on the life — or rather ‘death’ — of Sukumara Kurup, one of India’s most wanted fugitives who has been on the run since 1984.  

The story of Kurup is almost a folklore in Kerala, and the makers of the film have waited for a theatrical release amid the Covid pandemic instead of taking the OTT route.

“Kurup was made for theatres,” Srinath told The Hindu.

This is one of the major films to hit the screens after cinemas reopened in Kerala in October. It also stars Sobhita Dhulipala, Indrajith Sukumaran, Shine Tom Chacko, Sunny Wayne and Bharath Niwas. The movie is said to have been shot across India and also in the Middle East.

According to reports, 'Kurup' has been made on a budget of Rs 35 crore, and that it’s Dulquer Salmaan’s most expensive venture until now.

The Story Of Sukumara Kurup 

The name of Sukumara Kurup is etched in one of the most sensational murder cases of Kerala. And this is not the first time that a film is being made on his story. A  Malayalam film, ‘NH 47’, was made on the 1984 murder case in the same year. Adoor Gopalakrishnan’s Pinneyum (2016) also has a storyline similar to this case.

Until 1984, Sukumara Kurup was not a known name. But he first became ‘famous’ only as a ‘dead’ man — the “victim” in the murder case. And though it was unearthed soon that the actual victim was someone else and Kurup was in fact the alleged perpetrator of the crime, he was never caught.

But this was not the first time that Kurup had tried to prove himself dead. He had done that once in the past too, and was successful on that occasion.

According to police records and several media reports, Sukumara Kurup was born as Gopalakrishna Kurup and had joined the armed forces after his Class XII. But he once took a long leave and did not report back to his unit, which then declared him a ‘deserter’.

He had allegedly bribed a policeman to forge a report that said Gopalakrishna Kurup had died, and sent the report to his unit. This stopped the ‘deserter’ inquiry against him. 

Media reports say he then migrated to the Gulf, after getting a passport made under the name of ‘Sukumara Pillai’. 

He lived in Abu Dhabi with his wife Sarasamma, who he had married against his family’s wishes, and worked with the Abu Dhabi Marine Operating Company, according to the media reports. Kurup was reportedly doing well for himself, and was known to be generous with his money, both in Abu Dhabi and back in Kerala. 

He did not get into any trouble in the Gulf, according to police records. Things changed when rumours started doing the rounds that many companies in the Gulf, including his, were planning to downsize. Kurup decided to come back to Kerala and start a business. He then hatched a plan to raise the money.  

The Dangerous Plan  

January 22, 1984 was the day life changed for PM Haridas, then a deputy superintendent of police at Mavelikara in Alappuzha district.

A local resident came to his police station and said he saw a burning Ambassador car in a paddy field with a man inside at the steering wheel. An FIR was registered and Haridas left for the spot with his team.

Local residents told the police that the car belonged to Sukumara Kurup from nearby Cheriyanad, who had come back from Abu Dhabi a few weeks ago. 

Initial investigation, however, suggested it was not an accident.

The police found a pair of gloves with a few strands of hair stuck to them, a matchbox, and also a petrol can from the location, besides footprints of people fleeing the scene, a May 2021 report in The Week quoted Haridas, now retired, as saying.

The police soon found out that the dead man was not Kurup but one KJ Chacko, a film representative Kurup and others had picked up in the Ambassador car according to their plan on the pretext of giving him a lift.

Chacko was reportedly looking for a ride home after assessing ticket collections at a theatre.

According to a report in The Indian Express, Kurup’s plan was to present a dead man with a build similar to him, pass him as himself, and get his family to claim the life insurance money. The report said he got the idea from an English detective story he had once read in a magazine.

According to the police chargesheet, as reported by the media, after Chacko accepted the lift offer and got inside the car, he was given a drink laced with drugs and was strangled to death. The accused then placed him behind the wheel of the car, pushed it toward the paddy field and lit it after pouring petrol over it.

Assisting Kurup in executing the plan were his co-brother Bhaskara Pillai, his driver Ponnappan, and one Shahu, who worked in his firm in the Gulf as an office boy. The three had allegedly agreed to be part of the plan for a share of the insurance money. 

While Pillai and Ponnappan were found guilty and sentenced to life in jail, Shahu had turned approver. It was Shahu’s testimony that helped the police crack the case.

Kurup’s wife Sarasamma and Pillai’s wife were also charged initially but were let off for want of adequate evidence.

Recalling his career’s most important case, Haridas told The Indian Express: “Even at the time of Kurup’s supposed death, I could gauge that there wasn’t real grief in his house." He said he didn't find anyone sad in the family though the most important member had "died".

The police were able to arrest his accomplices soon, but Kurup was never caught, even though the Kerala Police scanned the length and breadth of the country and also a few places abroad — including Bhutan and the Gulf countries — in his hunt over the next decade. 

If he is alive, Kurup would be in his 70s now. 

George Joseph, a retired superintendent of police who was part of the special investigation team investigating the 1984 case, told The Week that Kurup must be dead by now because he had severe cardiac issues. He said the man was sighted in nine states, and was last spotted 31 years ago — in January 1990 — in Narayanpur (now in Chhattisgarh). 

In Kerala Police’s records, meanwhile, Kurup is still a fugitive and his case remains unclosed.