Sukumara Kurup case: Crime Branch records nurse's statement over Kolkata sighting

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Crime Branch has recorded the statement of 59-year-old nurse Ratnamma from Haripad, who had earlier claimed to have spotted fugitive Sukumara Kurup in Kolkata. Ratnamma had written to the police about the alleged sighting after retiring and returning to her hometown.

According to her statement, she saw a man at a hospital in Kolkata and asked if he was Sukumara Kurup. The man reportedly replied only, "Yes." When she returned a short while later, he had already left, she told investigators.

Kurup has remained a fugitive in the N.J. Chacko murder case for more than four decades. The Crime Branch has now reopened several long-pending cases where investigations had reached a dead end, including the Kurup case.

Kurup allegedly murdered N.J. Chacko in January 1984 by strangling him, placing his body inside a black Ambassador car, and setting it on fire in an attempt to fake his own death and fraudulently claim an insurance payout of Rs 8 lakh in his name. Initially, the charred body found in the car was believed to be Kurup's. However, investigators later identified the victim as N.J. Chacko, a film representative. By the time the victim's identity was confirmed, Kurup had disappeared.

Despite an extensive nationwide search, police were unable to trace him. Over the years, authorities received several reports claiming that Kurup had been spotted in different parts of the country, including northern India. Interpol also searched for him, but without success.

It remains unclear whether Kurup is alive or dead. If he is alive, he would now be 82 years old.

The Crime Branch has recently launched a special initiative under the leadership of IG Ajitha Begum to re-examine long-pending unsolved cases. Investigators recorded Ratnamma's statement as part of this renewed effort to review the decades-old case.