A panchayat in the Alappuzha district of Kerala wants the abandoned house of Sukumara Kurup, one of the most wanted criminals in Kerala and a fugitive from law, to be taken over by the government and converted into a village office. Ambalapuzha North panchayat president, S Haris, submitted a petition in this regard at the recently held Nava Kerala Sadas and has received a reply that the petition is being forwarded to the Revenue Department. Kurup’s two-storey house is located in Vandanam village near Ambalapuzha.

Haris wants the government to acquire the land and the house so that it can be repurposed for hosting the local village office. Haris had been trying to get approval for the proposal ever since he was elected a ward member in 2017.

Kurup started the construction of the house 40 years ago, but the work remained incomplete. Neither the house nor the land ownership is officially registered in his name, according to Haris. Land and building taxes have remained unpaid over four decades and the property has no designated ownership.

According to Haris, the land is close to 20 cents and the house spans around 1800 square feet. “Currently the Ambalapuzha North village office is situated in a temporary rented building. If we can move the village office to Kurup’s house it will benefit the public. There is no point in leaving the building to its fate,” Haris stated.

Haris feels that due to the spaciousness of the house, other government facilities like a homeo hospital or a veterinary Hospital can also be accommodated in the building. “If the building is handed over to the panchayat, we can use panchayat funds to carry out renovation works,” he said.

Kurup murdered film representative KJ Chacko, with the help of his relative Bhaskara Pillai, driver Ponnappan and his friend Shanu on January 22, 1984, near Mavelikara. He allegedly committed this crime to fake his own death to illegally claim the insurance amount of around Rs eight lakh. The victim was chosen due to his physical resemblance with Kurup. Chacko’s body was later burned inside an ambassador car to make the insurance company believe that Kurup was killed in an accident. A police investigation led to the arrest of other accused but Kurup was never found.

In 2021, Kurup, a film starring Dulquar Salmaan was released based in his life story.