{"id":2465,"date":"2026-10-06T08:31:18","date_gmt":"2026-10-06T08:31:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsraise.com\/in\/2026\/10\/06\/karnataka-prison-dig-arrested-for-forging-supreme-court-pape\/"},"modified":"2026-10-06T08:31:18","modified_gmt":"2026-10-06T08:31:18","slug":"karnataka-prison-dig-arrested-for-forging-supreme-court-pape","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsraise.com\/in\/2026\/10\/06\/karnataka-prison-dig-arrested-for-forging-supreme-court-pape\/","title":{"rendered":"Karnataka prison DIG arrested for forging Supreme Court papers to free murder convict"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<!-- Quick Adsense WordPress Plugin: http:\/\/quickadsense.com\/ -->\n<div class=\"9fece8afa224fd09e54b043d0febfb58\" data-index=\"1\" style=\"float: none; margin:10px 0 10px 0; text-align:center;\">\n<script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js\"><\/script>\r\n<!-- NR ATF -->\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-8898941184964366\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"4839033563\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"auto\"\r\n     data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script>\n<\/div>\n<p>Bengaluru, Karnataka \u2013 A senior prison official was taken into custody on Monday after a multi\u2011agency investigation connected him to a 2018 operation that illegally freed a convicted murderer using forged Supreme Court documents. The officer, identified as Somashekhar, served as deputy inspector general (DIG) of Prisons for the Kalaburagi zone at the time of the alleged misconduct.<\/p>\n<h2>Arrest and judicial custody<\/h2>\n<p>Somashekhar was apprehended by a special team led by Electronics City deputy commissioner of police (DCP) M\u202fNarayana. Following his arrest, a local court produced him before a magistrate and ordered that he remain in police custody until October\u202f9. The court\u2019s decision came after a remand application filed by the Parappana\u202fAgrahara police detailed a series of serious accusations against the DIG.<\/p>\n<h2>Background of the illegal release<\/h2>\n<p>The current probe originated from the arrest, last month, of a second\u2011division assistant (SDA) named Srikanth, who was attached to Bengaluru Central Prison. Srikanth faced charges of creating counterfeit Supreme Court documents that were used to secure the unlawful release of a murder convict known as Shankar in 2018. After a complaint and an internal inquiry, Shankar was re\u2011apprehended by police in August of this year.<\/p>\n<p>According to statements from officers and staff assigned to the convict prisoner section at the Central prison during 2018, Shankar\u2019s release was carried out directly on the orders of Somashekhar, who at the time held the position of chief superintendent of the Bengaluru Central Prison at Parappana\u202fAgrahara. Investigators assert that Somashekhar was aware that the documents produced by SDA\u2011Srikanth were fabricated, yet he proceeded to authorize the inmate\u2019s release.<\/p>\n<h2>Allegations of sexual exploitation and procedural breaches<\/h2>\n<p>The remand application further alleges that Somashekhar sexually exploited Shankar\u2019s wife, a claim that adds a grave personal dimension to the corruption charges. In addition to the sexual exploitation allegation, the application enumerates multiple instances where the DIG is said to have bypassed established prison protocols to provide Shankar with undue benefits.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Unlawful parole grants<\/strong>: Records indicate that, despite Shankar having previously absconded while on parole, Somashekhar granted him three separate 15\u2011day parole periods in 2018. Each approval contravened prison regulations and ignored explicit adverse remarks logged by prison staff, which deemed Shankar ineligible for parole.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Falsified verification records<\/strong>: For each parole grant, Somashekhar entered a verification note stating that he had confirmed Shankar\u2019s credentials by calling telephone number 23390847, which he claimed belonged to the Chandra Layout police station. Subsequent police verification established that the number did not correspond to the Chandra Layout station, casting serious doubt on the authenticity of the pre\u2011parole verification process.<\/p>\n<h2>Official reactions and investigative steps<\/h2>\n<p>Alok Kumar, director general of police, Prisons and Correctional Services, disclosed that an insider from the prison had written to senior prison officials, indicating that Shankar was released using forged documents. Kumar said, \u201cIt was a petition pending for last four years. After I took charge, I ordered an inquiry and found that these persons had acted suspiciously. Further investigation by city police ended in arresting the accused.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>City police commissioner Seemanth Kumar Singh added that the investigation extended beyond the state. \u201cTo confirm that the accused had forged documents, we sent a police team to Delhi a few months back. There, they met the Supreme Court registrar and learned that the documents were forged,\u201d he said.<\/n><\/p>\n<p>The case highlights systemic vulnerabilities within Karnataka\u2019s prison administration, especially concerning the verification of high\u2011court orders and the oversight of parole decisions. The involvement of a senior DIG underscores concerns about the potential for abuse of authority at the highest levels of the prison hierarchy.<\/p>\n<p>Legal experts note that the use of counterfeit Supreme Court documents to facilitate a prisoner\u2019s release constitutes a serious offence under Indian law, potentially attracting charges of criminal conspiracy, forgery, and obstruction of justice. If the sexual exploitation allegations are substantiated, additional criminal provisions related to sexual assault could be invoked.<\/p>\n<p>Authorities have indicated that the investigation remains ongoing. Police are expected to examine communication records, verify the authenticity of the purported Supreme Court documents, and interview witnesses, including prison staff who recorded adverse remarks about Shankar\u2019s parole eligibility.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, the Karnataka Prisons and Correctional Services department has pledged to review its internal controls and to strengthen mechanisms for authenticating court orders. The department\u2019s leadership emphasized that any breach of protocol will be met with swift disciplinary action, aiming to restore public confidence in the prison system.<\/p>\n<p>The case serves as a reminder of the broader challenges faced by Indian correctional institutions in safeguarding against corruption and ensuring that the rule of law is upheld within their walls.<\/p>\n\n<div style=\"font-size: 0px; height: 0px; line-height: 0px; margin: 0; padding: 0; clear: both;\"><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A deputy inspector general of prisons in Karnataka was detained after investigators linked him to a 2018 scheme that used counterfeit Supreme Court documents to release a convicted murderer and involved alleged sexual exploitation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2466,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[299],"tags":[2303,1407,2703,2702,335],"class_list":["post-2465","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-crime","tag-karnataka","tag-legal-fraud","tag-prison-corruption","tag-supreme-court","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsraise.com\/in\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2465","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsraise.com\/in\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsraise.com\/in\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsraise.com\/in\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsraise.com\/in\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2465"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsraise.com\/in\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2465\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsraise.com\/in\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2466"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsraise.com\/in\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2465"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsraise.com\/in\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2465"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsraise.com\/in\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2465"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}