A notorious convict sentenced to life imprisonment was released from prison using forged Supreme Court orders. As the mystery behind this fraud unfolded, a terrifying case of moral depravity came to light. The Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of the Prisons Department, S. Somashekar, has finally been arrested on charges of sexually assaulting the convict’s wife for a long period in exchange for releasing him with fake documents. This incident has sent shockwaves through the administrative and judicial circles of Karnataka.
The incident dates back to 2018. Shankar, a convict sentenced to life imprisonment by a fast-track court in a 2004 Chickpet police station case, was mysteriously released from Bengaluru Central Jail on November 13, 2018. The then Prison Superintendent, Somashekar, allowed him to walk free based on a submitted order claiming the Supreme Court had released Shankar. However, a recent police investigation revealed that the Supreme Court had never passed such a judgment and the order document was entirely fake.
The investigating team found that a senior prison assistant named Shrikant had forged the document using the Supreme Court’s seal and name. The case took a new turn when the police interrogated Shankar’s wife. The woman raised explosive allegations, stating that Somashekar—then Superintendent and now DIG—had repeatedly sexually assaulted her in exchange for freeing her husband.
Following evidence of the officer’s role in the conspiracy to release the convict using forged documents, and his lack of cooperation during the investigation, the Parappana Agrahara police arrested Somashekar. The court has remanded the accused DIG to police custody. This incident of forging apex court orders and committing sexual assault while in a position of power has exposed the dark reality within the country’s prison system.