If you grew up in Kerala, you would have heard this story. Or at least a version of it. It’s a bit of an urban (or rural?) legend.
Sukumara Kurup is one of Kerala’s most notorious fugitives. In the 1980s, he faked his own death by killing a lookalike and had one of his accomplices claim the insurance money. He’s been on the run since. It’s so bad that films continue to get made on him while the Kerala Police gets only awkward memes that go viral.
Very few know that the police once almost had him. They don’t get the credit because the then Calicut District Collector claimed he was instrumental in that operation and made the story about himself.
It happened when a police picket was checking out suspicious activity reported by some citizens in a Calicut village. Apparently, a man who fit the description of Kurup was staying quietly in a large house and moving about only at night. The police staked it out and confirmed it. A trap was laid. The best policemen of the district were inducted into the mission, along with a couple of vehicles and fast drivers. The district collector invited himself. He’d flouted his connections, so no one took the risk of telling him off.
The idea was to give chase when Kurup went out in his car – it was too risky to enter the house and confront him. After several nights of no-shows, the police’s patience was rewarded. They spotted Kurup quietly sneaking out in an Ambassador car. But before they could jump him, he’d already picked up speed.
The police gave chase. The district collector was also in the vehicle, providing a running commentary to the whole of the police force, the civic administration, and the cabinet. Kurup was fast, but the cops were – driving jeeps and SUVs – faster.
They were just a few meters behind when Kurup’s car made a quick turn at a crossroad. Then they lost him.
The ministers were furious. They had even informed the Union Government about the operation and assured success. The ministers had asked their journalists to stand by for a sensational story. Now the journalists were cracking dubious jokes! The District Collector and the Superintendent of Police, Calicut Rural (SP) were summoned to Trivandrum. The home minister sought an explanation.
The SP said he deserved a reward since he’d come closer to nabbing the man than anyone else. The Collector argued that the whole operation was his idea and if anyone deserved a reward, it was him. But the minister was keen on knowing how the crook escaped.
The two men told him what really happened. A few meters from the crossroad, Kurup had switched on his left indicator. And did a fiendishly clever thing – he turned right! The home minister nodded in agreement. Who could possibly expect a vehicle to turn right after indicating a left turn? This Kurup fellow was too clever.
He immediately recommended the SP for a promotion but said he’d have to speak to the chief minister to reward the Collector since it was above his pay grade.
The chief minister agreed that it was indeed a commendable job that the Collector did despite not being a cop. No one had been this close to Kurup and who could expect him to make such a clever move? He felt the reward should be appropriately extravagant; it was their duty to encourage such meritorious officers, and that such talent should be made available to the whole country. He deputed the Collector to the Union Government.
That District Collector eventually became the CEO of NITI Aayog.
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