It is the return of a memory that has faded like smoke. ‘Kurup’ Malayalam movie hit the silver screens on November 12, along with dubbed versions in Tamil, Telugu, Hindi and Kannada. The big release awaited by movie lovers in Malayalam.
Someone calm down in the meantime as fans walk from the queue to the ticket counter. 75 years old. Age grey eyes. The young men around him are excited, but his face is indifferent.
As he walks through the darkness of the tunnel-like corridor, he takes a Charminar from his pocket and burns it. When the person in front of the queue looks back without enduring the smell, he sees the grey face in the small light of the burning cigarette.
You can see something cruel shining in those eyes. They must have rushed to the ticket counter because they were overwhelmed when they thought this face had been forgotten somewhere and would take a dull note from the pocket and reach into the counter.
In Bengali or Hindi or Malayalam, he would say in a cold voice – a first-class ticket. The guy at the counter would tear the key into the black marks on his hands, trembling with age. He may have walked forward without buying the rest.
The person standing at the theatre door may have taken the ticket from his hand, torn it in half, and returned it. Then he may have been told the way to the fourth seat in the second row.
He may have shown the heart with a torch in his hand to guide the fleeing man. When he comes back to his seat, a twinkle may have flashed in his mind, and a forgotten face was found somewhere.
Kupur may have taken the torch and turned and hit him in the face. He may have walked to the door thinking he was an older man. The movie titles are being written and shown. Kurup’s intro without overly celebratory in a subdued rhythm. The moment when the theatres are rocking. You or I may have whistled cheerfully in the darkness inside that theatre. When he got back in his seat and looked around, he saw a stern look in the middle next to him.
Cruelty in the eyes. Old but angry face. The smile that never flickered on his face. It could be him … Sukumara Kurup. The name Kerala has been searching for for decades. When he arrives at a movie theatre that tells his life story, can he not come? Can’t get tickets to the first show? He may have come if he was at least a little healthy.
If he were alive anywhere in this world, he would unquestionably have come; he could not contain himself. Take a look around. It could be him. He may be sitting behind or in front of you as an older man with no experience. Will the legendary accused in Kerala’s most notorious long-pending case survive today? If so, where is Kurup? The last time a team of investigators followed in 2018 was on suspicion of being Sukumara Kurup.
The Crime Branch suspects that Kurup was working at a religious centre in Saudi Arabia. Kurup’s relatives were found to be receiving a series of phone calls from his number. But after this information was leaked, the calls from the number stopped.
But some think Kurup may be dead. According to police, the latest report was obtained from a nurse in Uttar Pradesh who said Kurup was undergoing treatment. Kurup is thought to have suffered two heart attacks.
Or, the ‘theory’ that Kurup has undergone plastic surgery and is living among us is no less. But this is not what former SP George Joseph, who investigated Kurup’s case, says. George Joseph was part of the Special Investigation Team investigating Kurup’s case.
The crime branch team wandered in search of Kurup in many places. Years later, when George Joseph became DySP, the investigation continued. It was also found that he had sought treatment in various locations in northern India under the name of Joshi. Kurup was suffering from a heart condition.
But Kurup could not stay in any hospital for long as there were many Malayalee nurses and doctors in places, including Bihar and Pune. Kurup travelled all over northern India by train as a monk in a Kashaya dress. Police say Kurup’s health was not optimistic.
George Joseph left the Crime Branch after closing the file stating that Sukumara Kurup was not alive. Even today, a large section of the police believe that Kurup did not live. Kurup is still in police custody as a case file 16/89, which has been pending since 1989.
Notorious story of Sukumara Kurup’s
Today marks the 37th anniversary of the mystery of the burning in the car of the black ambassador; Police and the Malayalees are still waiting for the arrest of Sukumara Kurup, who has vanished in the air like smoke.
And, to see the end of the murder case that took the life of a loved one, and Shantamma, the wife of the deceased Chacko. Sukumara Kurup is the main accused in the January 22, 1984 murder of film representative Chacko in a car fire to extort Rs 8 lakh in insurance money. The place where Sreehari Talkies used to stand at Karuvatta TB Junction is now a forested field. In this theatre ‘. NJ Chacko, a film representative from Alappuzha, came to ask for the screening of ‘Oru Mukham Palamukham’ and ‘Keni’ and collect the second show’s collection information.
Chacko was waiting for the vehicle to reach his pregnant wife, Shantamma. At Cherianad Puthenveettil, Sukumara Kurup, his sister-in-law’s husband Bhaskarapillai, driver Ponnappan and his friend Shahu from Chavakkad, a friend in the Gulf, planned to kill and burn Chacko, Sukumara Kurup’s body, for insurance fraud.
Chacko was found burnt to death in his car near a field near Kurup’s house. The police later realized that it was not Sukumara Kurup but Chacko. That field is now known as ‘Chakkopadam’. Bhaskara Pillai, who was convicted in the case, is now at home in Puliyur.
She stays in Alappuzha with her son Jith, who was born after Chacko’s death. Sukumara Kurup aimed to complete the construction of the bungalow in Vandanam by committing insurance fraud.
That house is now overgrown. If alive, Sukumara Kurup would be 75 years old now. The case could be reopened if any credible information is received about Kurup. The age at which a person dies is not 75. He may have lived somewhere.
A large section of Malayalees also believes that he may have gone to some theatre to watch a movie this morning!
