40 years on the lam: Chacko’s wife, son still grieving as Sukumara Kurup enjoys cult status

Alappuzha: Sukumara Kurup, the most notorious absconder from the arms of the law in the history of Kerala, disappeared exactly 40 years ago. However, the family of film representative N J Chacko, who was burnt to death in a car by Kurup and his accomplices to illegally claim an insurance amount, have not forgotten or forgiven.

Nobody knows whether Kurup is dead or alive. But, Chacko’s widow Santhamma and his son Jithin, who stay at Kandathil House, Alappad, near Punnamada, believe that Kurup, who would be 80 years old now, is still alive and they pray he is brought before the law. “I can never forgive Kurup or the others who were involved in the crime,” she said. “They also destroyed my life,” added Santhamma, who was pregnant with Jithin when Chacko was killed brutally.

Santhamma said she had met Bhaskara Pillai, who was the second accused in the case and was married to the sister of Kurup’s wife, at a church in Chengannur five years ago. “Pillai was at the church for a meditation programme. He told me that he had reformed and begged for my forgiveness. Pillai also said that he was abandoned by his family and friends. I was in a dilemma hearing him and abruptly uttered that I forgave him. That became big news,” said Santhamma.

“But the real fact is that I can neither forget those incidents nor forgive my husband’s murderers,” she said. They killed a man who had done no wrong, she added. “I was carrying at that time and our lives ended that day,” Santhamma added.

“People say Kurup would be dead. But we believe that he is still living somewhere abroad after changing his identity,” she said.

Meanwhile, Chacko’s son Jithin – who has never met his father – feels aggrieved that Kurup enjoys a cult status. “So many people visited our house in connection with the case. We are fed up repeating all the old things. Many films were also released on my father’s murder, but even they showed Kurup as a hero,” he said. “Nobody is interested in listening to the plight of Chacko’s family,” added Jithin, who is now 40 – the same age as the infamous case.

The case
Sukumara Kurup, an expatriate hailing from Puthenveettil, Cheriyanad, had planned Chacko's murder to illegally claim insurance worth Rs 8 lakh and carried out the crime along with his relative Bhaskara Pillai, driver Ponnappan and friend Shahu, a resident of Chavakkad, on January 22, 1984.

Chacko had physical resemblances with Kurup and was lured into the latter’s car, in which he was burnt to death. A police investigation found that Kurup planned to deceive the insurance company into believing that he was killed in the accident and claim the insurance amount. Even though all the other accused were soon arrested, Kurup is still untraced.