For 42 years, Kerala has been asking one question: Where is Sukumara Kurup?
Dulquer Salman's 2021 movie 'Kurup' had seen many from the current generation checking out who this most wanted fugitive from Kerala was. Now, the latest claim that he could be alive and living in Brunei has triggered another wave of interest in Kurup.

And the internet has done what it does best. It has produced a small army of Sukumara Kurups on Instagram, complete with holiday pictures, luxury cars, motorcycles, helicopters, enjoying Onam and, of course, one with a Brunei-based lifestyle.

One eye-catching account of the lot is named sukumara.kurup.brunei, which introduces itself rather boldly as “Sukumara Kurup from BRUNEI”. Its bio describes the owner as an “Entrepreneur AI creator”, an “Alappuzha Malayali living in Brunei”, followed by the cheeky line “catch me if you can”. It also carries a disclaimer that it is “just a Fun Account”.

And the account certainly appears to be having fun. Its posts imagine Kurup living a life far removed from that of a fugitive: posing beside expensive cars, standing in what looks like a private garage with a large bevy of flashy cars, riding a motorcycle and generally appearing to have mastered the art of disappearing without giving up the comforts of life. Its posts mostly play around with the latest news cycle around the Brunei theory.

But this is not a one account phenomenon. A quick Instagram search for Sukumara Kurup throws up a curious collection of usernames, with variations of his name squeezed between underscores, dots and extra letters. There are accounts such as sukumara.kurup., sukumara.kurup7565, suku_mara_kurup, sukumara_kurup, sukumara..kurup_ and several others that appear to have been created around the enduring fascination with the fugitive.

Some are almost comically minimal. A profile simply says “kurup”. Another identifies itself as “Sukumara Kurup”, but all parody accounts having a little fun with one of Kerala’s most famous unsolved mysteries.

The Brunei account, however, takes the concept several steps further. Its grid is effectively an alternate universe in which Kurup has not merely escaped capture but has acquired a taste for AI-generated glamour.

He appears beside cars. He rides a Royal Enfield. He poses in exotic locations. He turns up at what look like grand events. There are even visuals that place him amid helicopters and elaborate police chases.

The sudden craze with AI-generated images of what was circulated by a news channel as Kurup's latest photo began after a former police officer claimed that Kurup was alive and living in Brunei under a different identity. The Kerala Crime Branch has said it will verify the claim and approach Interpol for information relating to a passport, photograph and mobile connection allegedly linked to Kurup. The police have not confirmed that the man in the photograph is Kurup.

Instagram’s information does not establish when each profile picture was changed, so the apparent speed of those updates is not clear. But the joke is evident. The Kerala Police have been trying to find Sukumara Kurup since 1984. Now, after a fresh Brunei claim, Instagram seems to have found him several times over.

And now that Instagram has produced so many versions of Sukumara Kurup, there is only one question left: Could one of these accounts, just by some wildly improbable twist worthy of the Kurup story itself, actually belong to the real Kurup?

Kurup is the prime accused in the murder of film representative Chacko of Alappattu House in Kuttichira near Thathampally, Alappuzha. Chacko was killed on January 22, 1984, as part of a plot to fraudulently claim an insurance payout of ₹8 lakh. He was set on fire inside a car after being murdered.

Kurup disappeared following the crime and has remained one of Kerala's most wanted fugitives ever since.