Life convict uses forged SC papers to walk out of jail, FIR filed after 8 years

A major prison fraud case has surfaced in Karnataka after authorities discovered that a life convict allegedly secured his release from Bengaluru’s Parappana Agrahara Central Prison nearly eight years ago using forged Supreme Court documents, exposing serious procedural lapses and possible insider collusion within the Prison Department.

Shankar Arumugam, convicted in a 2001 kidnapping-for-ransom case, walked out of prison on November 13, 2018, after submitting documents that purportedly showed relief granted by the Supreme Court. Prison authorities at the time processed his release after he paid a Rs 10,000 fine linked to the alleged court order.

The matter came to light only recently after the Director General of Prisons received an anonymous complaint alleging that the convict had obtained release through fake Supreme Court orders.

PROBE EXPOSES ALLEGED FORGERY

Following the complaint, prison authorities initiated an internal inquiry. During verification with the Supreme Court Assistant Registrar in New Delhi, officials reportedly found that the order produced by the convict was forged.

According to prison authorities, Arumugam had been serving life imprisonment after being convicted by Fast Track Court-I in Bengaluru under IPC Section 364A for kidnapping for ransom and Section 120B for criminal conspiracy. The sentences were ordered to run concurrently.

The revelation has now raised troubling questions over how forged judicial documents managed to pass through prison procedures without detection and whether prison officials or others within the system facilitated the convict’s release.

FIR FILED AFTER EIGHT YEARS

Based on the inquiry findings, Parappana Agrahara Police have registered an FIR under IPC Sections 465, 466, 468, 471, 472 and 420 related to forgery, fabrication and use of fake documents, and cheating.

Authorities are now attempting to trace and re-arrest the convict while also examining the role of all those who may have helped prepare forged records and enable the illegal release.

Alok Kumar, DGP Prisons, said, “An FIR has now been registered at Parappana Agrahara Police Station in connection with the case for cheating and forgery of documents by the life imprisonment convict Shankar Arumugam.”

“The FIR has been registered nearly eight years later based on an anonymous letter received at my office. An inquiry in this regard was conducted by the DIG (South). Based on her report, the FIR was registered,” he added.

Further investigation is underway.

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