Published Aug 28, 2026 | 6:16 PM ⚊ Updated Aug 28, 2026 | 6:30 PM
Sukumara Kurup and Damodara Menon during their younger days. (Photo | Special Arrangement)
The claim that Kerala’s most famous fugitive Sukumara Kurup might be alive and in Brunei has collapsed after just a day.
It was Ali Akbar, a retired police officer once part of the 42-year-long manhunt for Sukumara Kurup, who had floated the theory that Kurup was in the Gulf kingdom and working in the construction sector.
Akbar claimed that Kurup was in touch with his wife, relatives and influential leaders. He had also alleged that substantial pressure was being brought to bear to suppress the case.
But now a passport, said to show Kurup under an assumed identity, has turned out to belong to another person.
According to a clarification given by Karunakaran Menon, the document belongs to Damodara Menon of Karumathra in Vadakkancherry, Thrissur.
Damodara Menon reportedly left for Malaysia around four decades ago and later married a woman from Palakkad. The couple have two children. He also owns 10 cents of land in Karumathra.
Damodara Menon is currently undergoing treatment following an accident. Karunakaran Menon said his brother remains in regular contact with his family in Keralam and had spoken to them over the phone about a month ago.
The police also reached out to Damodara Menon and confirmed these facts over the phone. Damodara Menon told cops that while it was true that he was not in good health, he plans to return to Keralam soon.
Earlier, AI expert M Nandakishore ran a scan of Kurup and Menon’s photos (before the revelations) using ‘ArcFace’, a facial recognition model, and concluded that they were not of the same man.
On Friday morning, Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala said he had instructed ADGP Crime Branch H Venkatesh to examine whether there was any truth behind the claim that Sukumara Kurup was in Brunei.
“At present, these are only rumours. There are no verified facts. I have instructed the Crime Branch to investigate the matter and ascertain the truth,” Chennithala said.
He added that the Crime Branch would collect and verify all available information before communicating its findings.
Chennithala also rejected a claim made by retired police officer Ali Akbar that he had earlier submitted a report to the authorities stating that Kurup was alive and remained in regular contact with his relatives in Keralam.
Sukumara Kurup, aka PK Gopalakrishna Kurup, has been wanted since the 1984 murder of KJ Chacko, a film representative, in Mavelikara.
Investigators have alleged that the killing was part of a plan to fake Kurup’s death so that a life insurance claim could be made in his name.
Despite repeated efforts by multiple police teams over the last 42 years, Kurup has remained untraced.
Also Read:
No Brunei twist, no closure: Why does Sukumara Kurup still fascinate Keralam?
Kerala’s longest-running manhunt: 42 years on, Crime Branch revives hunt for Sukumara Kurup
(With inputs from Dileep V Kumar and Sreelakshmi Soman.)
