Sukumara Kurup's unfinished house likely to be turned into govt office

Ambalapuzha: Nearly four decades after Sukumara Kurup went into hiding for faking his own death and murdering a youth for insurance money, the state government is planning to turn his unfinished house in Vandanam here into a government office. 

A few months back, S. Harris, president of Ambalapuzha North Grama Panchayat, requested the Revenue Minister to use the building to house government offices. He also filed an application for the same in Nava Kerala Sadas. 

However, the Revenue Department has chosen to look into the legal aspects of taking over the property. After Kurup went into hiding, the government seized the property on September 19, 1984, and has been embroiled in legal disputes ever since. 

Due to a lack of sufficient documents, Kurup's family was unable to claim ownership of the seven-bedroom house. 

Kurup has been absconding since 1984. He was charged with the murder of Chacko in order to fake his own death to claim an insurance sum of Rs 8 lakh. Kurup committed the offence with the help of his co-brother, his driver and another friend. Chacko was abducted, tortured, poisoned, and strangled to death before his body was burnt inside Kurup's car at Mavelikkara.

Police managed to arrest the accomplices of Kurup but could never trace him. The case was closed in 1996, after searching for him in vain for 12 years, with a note suggesting that Kurup would be living in a foreign country with a fake identity.