A senior Karnataka prisons official has been arrested for allegedly assisting in the release of a life convict from Bengaluru Central Prison in 2018 using a forged Supreme Court order, with the investigation also examining an allegation that he sexually exploited the prisoner’s wife in connection with efforts to secure the release.
M Somashekar, presently serving as Deputy Inspector General of Prisons, North Zone, Kalaburagi, was taken into custody on Sunday and subsequently produced before a court. He has been remanded to police custody for further interrogation, police said on Monday.
At the time of the convict’s release in November 2018, Somashekar was the Chief Superintendent of Bengaluru Central Prison at Parappana Agrahara. Police have alleged that he assisted in securing the prisoner’s release despite the convict’s life sentence having been upheld by higher courts.
The allegations against Somashekar are under investigation and have not been established by a court.
Fake SC order triggered release
The case centres on a purported Supreme Court order that allegedly showed that the life convict had been ordered to be released. Police said the document was forged and used to secure his release from Bengaluru Central Prison on November 13, 2018.
Investigators have alleged that Srikanth S, who was then working as a second division assistant in the Convict Prisoner Section of the prison, forged a copy of an order purportedly passed by the Supreme Court in the prisoner’s criminal appeal.
The fabricated document allegedly showed that the Supreme Court had ordered the prisoner’s release on November 2, 2018. Acting on the purported order, prison authorities released him 11 days later.
Srikanth has since been arrested in connection with the case and remanded to judicial custody.
Life term upheld by courts
According to police, the prisoner had been tried in a case registered at Chickpet Police Station and convicted by Fast Track Court-I. On July 12, 2004, the court sentenced him to life imprisonment and imposed a fine of Rs 10,000.
The convict subsequently challenged the sentence before the Karnataka High Court and later approached the Supreme Court. His attempts to have the sentence overturned were unsuccessful, with the higher courts upholding the conviction and punishment.
Despite that judicial history, the prisoner was released in 2018 after the allegedly forged Supreme Court order reached the prison authorities. Investigators are now examining the circumstances in which the document was processed and accepted, and the role played by officials responsible for verifying it before the prisoner was allowed to leave.
Case surfaced this year
The alleged fraud remained undetected for years before coming to light in 2026. In May, the current Superintendent in-charge of Bengaluru Central Prison approached Parappana Agrahara Police Station and lodged a complaint regarding the 2018 release.
The complaint alleged that the prisoner had been released on the basis of a forged order purportedly issued by the Supreme Court. Police registered a case and began reconstructing the sequence of events surrounding the release.
Investigators examined prison records, the convict’s case history and documents purportedly received from the Supreme Court. The probe subsequently led police to Srikanth, who investigators allege created the forged document.
The investigation then widened to examine whether other prison officials had knowingly facilitated or failed to prevent the unauthorised release.
Convict’s wife arrested
Police also questioned the life convict’s wife as part of the investigation. According to investigators, she told them that Somashekar, then the prison’s Chief Superintendent, had assisted in securing her husband’s release.
She was subsequently arrested along with Srikanth and remanded to judicial custody. Police have not disclosed the complete nature of the alleged conspiracy or the specific acts attributed to each accused, saying the investigation is continuing.
The alleged use of a forged order from the country’s highest court has also prompted investigators to examine how the document passed through the prison administration without its authenticity being detected.
Sexual exploitation allegation
During questioning, the convict’s wife also made a serious allegation against Somashekar. Police said she alleged that the senior prison official had sexually exploited her in connection with efforts to secure her husband’s release from Bengaluru Central Prison.
Police stressed that this allegation is being investigated separately and further evidence is being gathered. No conclusion has yet been reached on the allegation.
The woman’s statement forms part of the continuing investigation, and investigators are expected to examine available records and other evidence before determining whether additional criminal charges are warranted.
Police allege non-cooperation
As the investigation progressed, police said Somashekar failed to cooperate with investigators and allegedly concealed information relevant to the case.
He was subsequently taken into custody on Sunday and produced before a court. Investigators sought his custody for interrogation to establish the sequence of events that culminated in the prisoner’s release and determine whether other people were involved.
Police are expected to question him about how the purported Supreme Court order was received and processed, whether its authenticity was verified and what role he played before the final release authorisation was issued.
Probe into wider conspiracy
The investigation has now moved beyond the alleged creation of the forged document to the administrative chain through which it was acted upon. Police are examining whether the prisoner’s release was the result of collusion among multiple individuals or whether procedural failures within the prison system allowed the allegedly fabricated order to pass without verification.
Investigators are also seeking to establish whether anyone benefited financially or otherwise from the prisoner’s release and whether additional officials had knowledge of the alleged forgery.
With a serving DIG-level prisons officer, a former prison employee and the convict’s wife now accused in the case, investigators are attempting to reconstruct events dating back nearly eight years. Somashekar’s arrest marks the most significant development so far, but the precise extent of his alleged role, as well as the sexual exploitation allegation made against him, will be determined through the continuing investigation and subsequent judicial proceedings.