Sukumara Kurup


Sukumara Kurup is one of the most wanted-criminals in the Indian state of Kerala. He was accused in the murder of Chacko, a film representative, in the year 1984.

Chacko's death

Chacko was strangled to death and his body was burnt inside a car near Kunnam in Mavelikara. Sukumara Kurup allegedly committed the crime to fake his own death and claim an insurance amount of INR 800,000 by killing Chacko who bore a resemblance with him. Sukumara Kurup is supposed to have fled abroad after the incident, while two of his co-accused, driver Ponnappan and brother-in-law Bhaskar Pillai, were sentenced to a life-term imprisonment.
According to the police, Sukumara Kurup, is still on the list of absconding accused since January 1984.
The Chacko murder case is one of the longest-standing cases in the judicial history of Kerala.
The case again caught media attention during the mid-2000s when there were reports on Sukumara Kurup look-alikes in various parts of India and Kerala. Even today, Kurup still remains untraced.

In popular culture

NH 47, a Malayalam language film based on Chacko murder was made in 1984 by Baby. Pinneyum by director Adoor Gopalakrishnan in 2016 is loosely adapted from original criminal incident by Sukumara Kurup.
A crime thriller film, Kurup directed by Srinath Rajendran, is being made with Dulquer Salmaan playing the eponymous role and Tovino Thomas playing Chacko.