The Brothers Kuruvila: Behind ex-DGP’s sentencing in graft case, a Kerala family’s 36-year-long fight

The DA case dates to 2002 but its roots go back 12 years before that, to 1990, when the brothers, Boby and Alexander Kuruvila, were in their 20s. They belonged to Alappuzha’s prominent landlord family, Karivelithara, with their ancestors active in politics and part of the erstwhile Travancore government.

In 1990, Thachankary, then a young IPS officer, was posted in their town as an Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP). He allegedly misused his position to implicate the Kuruvilas in a case arising from a minor scuffle involving his distant relative.

Pursuing action against the officer, who went on to earn accolades in his storied career, they learnt about his allegedly ill-gotten wealth, finally getting the Vigilance department to register a case against Thachankary. Though the officer allegedly tried to drag the case for years, the brother continued pursuing it, making sure he was eventually brought to justice.

Alexander and Boby Kuruvila

A minor scuffle with decades-long consequences

It has been 36 years but Boby, a native of Mithrakari in Alappuzha, still remembers September 13, 1990, clearly.

“I was a 22-year-old, who had completed his degree course. There was a minor scuffle with a friend who lived in the neighbourhood. He filed a complaint with local police but they refused to register a case, considering that the silly matter did not merit an FIR,” recalled Boby, now 58.

But the complainant was a distant relative of Thachankary and his family took the matter up with the IPS officer. “He asked his relative to file a fresh complaint not only against me but also my father Kuruvila and elder brother Alexander,” Boby said.

The FIR registered against the trio alleged that they stormed into the house of the complainant and manhandled him. “On the contrary, the scuffle that led to the original complaint had taken place at our house, not his,” Boby told The Indian Express.

Boby, Alexander and Kuruvila secured bail from a local court but the relief was short-lived. As the probe progressed, police added another charge against them: That they had threatened the complainant at gunpoint. Sections of the Arms Act were invoked and following the police report, the court cancelled the bail of Kuruvila and his two sons.

“As the court issued an arrest warrant, Thachankary deputed his special squad to arrest us,” said Boby. The trio went into hiding. “Police searched our house several times and threatened our mother. They did not spare the premises of our pregnant sister, who was staying in Kottayam at the time,” said 63-year-old Alexander.

Weeks later, the father and the two sons obtained pre-arrest bail and came out from hiding.

But for Boby and Alexander, this was not the time to rest.

They moved the police department to complain against its own officer. When it yielded nothing, the family filed a private complaint with a local court, accusing the officer of fabricating a case against them. The magistrate court ordered a probe against the IPS officer. But, Thachankary moved the high court after which proceedings at the magistrate court were quashed.

As Thachankary moved from one place in Kerala to another, climbing up the career ladder under successive state governments, the brothers realised they would have to change tacks.

“We began collecting details and meeting people who may have faced high-handedness from Thachankary,” said Boby.

This is when they stumbled upon the officer’s huge wealth.

In 2002, Boby approached the Vigilance, alleging that Thachankary had amassed wealth disproportionate to his known source of income.

When no FIR was registered for years, Boby approached the HC in 2005, seeking expeditious completion of the preliminary probe. The Vigilance informed the court in 2006 that the probe would be completed within six months.

As Vigilance continued dragging its feet, Boby approached then Chief Minister and CPI(M) veteran V S Achuthanandan, which finally led to registration of an FIR against Thachankary in 2007. “I had met the then CM 24 times to raise the issue,’’ he said.

A long-drawn probe

The Vigilance probe covered the alleged wealth amassment by Thachankary between 2003 and 2007. As the probe did not make much progress, Boby approached the HC in 2010, filing a contempt of court petition against the department. The petition was closed with the Vigilance telling the court the probe was on.

In 2013, the Vigilance filed the final report in the special court in Thrissur, stating that Thachankary was found in possession of pecuniary resources and properties to the extent of Rs 64 lakh, disproportionate to his known sources of income.

When the trial did not commence, Boby petitioned the HC Chief Justice in 2017. In 2018, he petitioned another HC judge with jurisdictional supervisory charge over the special court in 2018. Meanwhile, the case was transferred from Thrissur to Muvattupuzha in Ernakulam district in 2016.

Thachankary allegedly tried to protract the framing of charges against him as well as the trial. In 2019, he approached the special court, seeking transfer of the Vigilance case. As the court refused, he moved the HC, which allowed his plea. The case was then transferred to the special court in Kottayam in early 2020.

Thachankary, meanwhile, moved a discharge petition before the special court, which dismissed it in May, 2020. Then, he approached the HC with a criminal revision petition, challenging the Vigilance order. Boby also impleaded in the revision petition. In December 2020, the HC dismissed the revision petition of the officer.

Thachankary then approached the CPI(M)-led state government, seeking a direction for further investigation. The government ordered further probe.

Boby moved the HC against the order but his plea was rejected by a single bench.

In 2021, Boby approached the division bench, which, in 2025, came out against further probe and directed the court to expedite the trial within six months.

Meanwhile, in 2023, Thachankary retired from service.

The bench said Thachankary had been deliberately causing the procrastination of the probe and framing of charges against him. “The government decision ordering further probe… does little to inspire a citizen’s confidence in our criminal justice system. If the State, whose duty it is to bring offenders to justice, takes sides with an accused and permits him to dictate the manner in which the investigation against him is to progress, it will be antithetical to the concept of ‘the rule of law’,” the court had said.

Thachankary is presently lodged in central prison in Thiruvananthapuram and has appealed to the HC against the trial court verdict. The HC has reserved its verdict on his plea.

Alexander is still unsure if Boby’s fight with Thachankary’s distant relative was the only reason that made the officer go after the family. “I had met Thachankary during inter-state college events although we studied at different institutions. He must have definitely heard about the Karivelithara family. After getting khaki (uniform), he might have thought about taking on our prominent family by implicating us in a false case to gain attention,’’ said Alexander.

Boby and Alexander’s granduncle Karivelithara Mathew Korah, a Congress leader, had been a minister in the erstwhile Travancore government. He had served as a member of Travancore Legislative Council as well as the Travancore-Cochin Assembly before the formation of Keralam. Korah’s wife, Thressiama, too had served as a member of the Legislative Council. Their father, Kuruvila, had worked as a journalist with the now defunct daily Pouradwani, launched by Congress leader K M Chacko, his uncle. Kuruvila is also credited with being one of the first farmers to introduce fish farming to the backwaters of Kuttanad.

Boby said Thachankary had tried to “settle the case” years ago. “But, we were not ready for any compromise. Initially, our intention was to bring the person (Thachankary) who had harassed us without any ground to book. Later, our effort turned into a battle against corruption, a social menace,” he said.