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Sukumara Kurup Biography: Age, Career, Family and More

F4U Editorial Desk • Updated October 15, 2026 • 4 min read

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Quick Info

Date of birth1946

Age75 Years (as of 2021)

BirthplaceCheriyanad, Chengannur, Alappuzha, Kerala

ProfessionCriminal

NationalityIndian

Marital statusMarried

SpouseSarasamma

FamilyTwo sons; younger son named Sunit Pillai

Sukumara Kurup Biography

Sukumara Kurup is an Indian fugitive wanted in connection with the 1984 murder of Chacko. Once an expatriate worker in Abu Dhabi, he vanished after police,

Early life and background

Born Gopalakrishna Kurup in 1946 in Cheriyanad, Chengannur, in Alappuzha district of Kerala, Kurup grew up in a middle-class Malayali family. Commonly called Suku, he completed education up to the pre-degree level before joining the Indian Air Force as an airman. Records indicate he later took an extended absence from the service and was classified as a deserter when he failed to return from leave.

Kurup married Sarasamma, whom he met while both were in Mumbai. Sarasamma had been training as a nurse and later worked in Abu Dhabi. The couple eventually settled in the Gulf, where Kurup worked as an executive for a marine petroleum company and his wife was employed as a nurse. Their expatriate earnings supported a comfortable lifestyle that included frequent gifts to relatives and conspicuous spending during visits back to Kerala.

Career

Kurup’s recorded profession in public documents is that of a criminal, a designation tied to his central role in a high-profile homicide known as the Chacko murder case of 1984. Prior to that, his employment history included service as an airman in the Indian Air Force and later executive work in the marine petroleum sector in Abu Dhabi. While living overseas he used the name Sukumara Pillai at times and held a passport under that identity.

The crime that defined his public life unfolded in January 1984. Facing financial pressure as he built a house in Alappuzha and concerned about rumors of job cuts in the Gulf, Kurup devised a plan to obtain life insurance proceeds by faking his own death. He recruited several acquaintances for the scheme, including his driver and a brother-in-law. When attempts to obtain an unclaimed dead body failed, the group resorted to killing a man named Chacko, a film representative, whom they encountered outside a movie theatre. The victim was drugged, strangled, dressed in Kurup’s clothes, put into a recently purchased Ambassador car, and the vehicle was set on fire to conceal the identity.

Police investigation quickly raised doubts about the incident being an accident. Forensic findings showed the burned man had poison in his stomach and lacked soot in his airways, indicating he was not killed by fire. Items found at the scene and inconsistencies in the behavior of Kurup’s family further alerted investigators. Chacko’s widow identified the victim, and the connection to Kurup’s staged death became clear.

Following these revelations, Kurup’s co-conspirators were arrested; his driver and brother-in-law received life sentences, and another accomplice turned approver and was released. Kurup himself escaped custody and used an initial 72-hour advantage to leave the area. Investigators tracked possible movements through multiple Indian locations and beyond, and a special investigation team kept undercover officers in his neighborhood for years, but they were unable to apprehend him. The judicial process continued for many years, and by 1996 the police had not been able to locate Kurup.

Public profile

The Chacko murder case became one of the longest-standing criminal matters in Kerala’s legal history and made Kurup one of the state’s most wanted fugitives. The case had severe consequences for his family, who faced ostracism in their community; his wife lost her job amid the scandal. Over time Kurup has been referred to by several names, including P. S. Joshi and Sukumara Pillai, and has been widely described in media accounts as a fugitive linked to the 1984 murder.

Latest updates

Major investigative efforts spanned more than a decade after the crime, and the case formally remained unresolved by the time the police closed the long-running search in 1996. Public interest in the case has persisted because of the circumstances of the murder, the failure to capture Kurup, and the social fallout for the victim’s family and Kurup’s own relatives. Details in public records indicate he would be in his mid-70s as of the early 2020s.

Editorial Review and Sources

This F4U profile is written from publicly available career and profile information, then reviewed for clarity before publication. If you spot an outdated detail about Sukumara Kurup, send the page URL and a reliable correction source to f4udotin@gmail.com.

Reference context: StarsUnfolded

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Career Highlights

  1. Prime accused in the Chacko murder case (1984)
  2. Fugitive from police custody since 1984
Reviewed by F4U Editorial Desk

F4U profile pages are prepared from public career information, checked for readability, and updated when reliable correction sources are shared with the editorial team.

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Frequently Asked Questions

When was Sukumara Kurup born?

Sukumara Kurup was born on 1946.

What is Sukumara Kurup known for?

Sukumara Kurup is known for criminal.

What is Sukumara Kurup’s marital status?

Sukumara Kurup's marital status is listed as Married.

Who is Sukumara Kurup married to?

Sukumara Kurup is publicly listed as married to Sarasamma.