Thiruvananthapuram: The search for Kerala's most-wanted fugitive Sukumara Kurup has gathered momentum with the release of Dulquer Salmaan's 'Kurup'.

While the Kerala Police seem to have given up on the man at large who has been missing since 1984, netizens are hot on the trail and the latest lookalike to enter the 'suspect list' is none other than Kerala's General Education Minister V Sivankutty.

Someone released a meme by placing a photo of minister Sivankutty alongside a morphed image of Sukumara Kurup. The picture of the fugitive was animated to provide a resemblance to the veteran CPM leader.

As the mischief went viral, it didn't remain hidden from the minister himself, who took to social media on Tuesday evening to let know his view of the joke.

"I'm not Sukumara Kurup, ok. I told the same to children," wrote the minister before adding a rather serious line that was smothered with a smiley. "This is not how you do politics," he added.

The post was widely shared with the politician's supporters siding with their comrade and criticising the alleged political attempt to smear his reputation while many others found the minister's response equally funny.