How a Kerala family fought for decades to see Tomin J Thachankary behind bars

On September 17, 2026, the Court of the Enquiry Commissioner and Special Judge (Vigilance), Kottayam, sentenced Tomin J. Thachankary, 63, a 1987-batch Kerala-cadre IPS officer who retired as DGP in 2023, to four years’ rigorous imprisonment and a fine of ₹30,84,892. Judge K.V. Rajaneesh found him guilty under Section 13(2) read with Section 13(1)(e) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988.

It is the first conviction and sentence of an officer of DGP rank in a disproportionate-assets case in Kerala. The case was pursued for decades by a family from Alappuzha—the late K.L. Kuruvila of Karuvelithara and his two sons, Bobby and Alexander.

It began in October 1990, when Thachankary was Assistant Superintendent of Police in Alappuzha. According to Bobby Kuruvila, now 58, a verbal clash involving his father, his elder brother Alexander, and a relative of Thachankary was followed by a complaint of assault. When the family did not report to the police station in the manner they were summoned, the dispute escalated, Bobby says.

A second case was then registered under the Arms Act, alleging that the family had pointed a gun and attempted to kill someone. Police raided their house and those of relatives, forcing the family to go into hiding for about a week.

“He has this problem of trying to humiliate respectable people, or insulting those who do not bow to him because he had power in his hands,” Bobby told THE WEEK.

A special squad originally formed to track a notorious criminal was also used in the searches against his family, Bobby says. He remembers the officers who were part of this squad as “rogues” trained under Thachankary.

Bobby also alleges that Thachankary sent women police officers to a hospital in Pala where his sister had just given birth. According to him, the officers told hospital staff that her brothers were major criminals and that she should be discharged.

The family later succeeded in getting the Crime Branch to examine the gun case. Bobby says the inquiry found the case to be “absolutely false, concocted” and recommended action against those who had fabricated it. He alleges that Thachankary then approached the investigating officer, pleaded that his career would be ruined, and asked that the finding be changed to “mistake of fact”.

The family, however, decided to pursue the matter against a police officer who would go on to become DGP in his decades-long career.

In the mid-1990s, Bobby’s father approached the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau. Among the material he submitted was an advertisement Thachankary had placed in a Malayalam newspaper in the United States for a Christian music concert. The advertisement showed Thachankary in a hat and coat and listed tickets at $100 and $50. Kuruvila treated it as an early indication of income from sources beyond his known earnings.

Kuruvila died in 2005, but his sons continued the fight. Bobby says he filed writ petitions in the High Court 12 times and also approached the Supreme Court. He says senior officers later provided him with records that expanded the picture of Thachankary’s assets.

The Vigilance case was registered in 2007, after Thachankary had been promoted to DIG. It covered the period from January 2003 to July 2007. Raids were conducted at six locations, but the chargesheet was filed only in 2013.

Bobby is open about his motivation. He says his hostility towards Thachankary stems from what he considers the false case registered against him, his father, and his brother. He describes Thachankary as “a criminal in khaki”.

He also points out that the conviction covers only a four-year period and says the assets allegedly accumulated between 2007 and Thachankary’s retirement in 2023 remain outside the scope of the case. Furthermore, Bobby claims he holds a lot of incriminating evidence against the former DGP from this period.

“I will fight against Thachankary until I die,” he told THE WEEK.