A startling case of fraud has surfaced from Karnataka, where a man sentenced to imprisonment for life allegedly walked out of Bengaluru’s high-security Parappana Agrahara Central Prison by means of forged documents, which suggested that orders for his release had been issued by the Supreme Court (SC). The revelation came to the fore recently, almost 8 years after the convict’s release, and has sent ripples across the jail administration, prompting a manhunt for him.

Man was convicted in kidnapping-ransom case

Officials said that the convict, identified as Shankar Arumugam, was sentenced to lifetime imprisonment on charges of a kidnapping-for-ransom case dating back to 2001. However, he managed to secure his release from the prison on November 13, 2018, after submitting documents claiming that the top court had granted him relief.

Prison officials processed his release after he deposited a fine of Rs 10 thousand mentioned in the court order.

The matter remained under the wraps for years until an anonymous complaint was filed with Karnataka’s Director General of Prisons. The tip-off claimed that the documents used for Arumugam’s release were forged.

Internal inquiry blows the lid off fraud

The prison authorities, on receipt of the information, launched an internal probe to verify the documents. Later, the officials got in touch with the office of Supreme Court registrar in New Delhi for authentication.

During this, the jail authorities discovered that the documents produced by Arumugam were forged. The investigating police officials said that Arumugam had been convicted by Fast Track Court-I in Bengaluru under Sections 364A and 120B of the Indian Penal Code for kidnapping for ransom and criminal conspiracy. The court had ordered the sentences to run concurrently, leading to his lifetime imprisonment.

After the jail officials learnt of the fraud, they are also examining whether other prison officials or insiders may have colluded in facilitating Arumugam’s release.

Convict booked under IPC sections

On the basis of the findings, the Parappana Agrahara Police have registered an FIR against the convict under several provisions of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) pertaining to forgery, cheating and the use of fabricated documents. Karnataka DGP (Prisons), Alok Kumar confirmed the development, saying that the cops are persevering in efforts to trace and apprehend Arumugam.