Karnataka DIG accused of helping life convict escape, sexually abusing prisoner’s wife

A senior Karnataka prisons official has been arrested for allegedly helping a life convict escape from Bengaluru Central Prison using a forged Supreme Court order and sexually exploiting the convict’s wife.

M Somashekar (50), currently serving as Deputy Inspector General of Prisons - North Range, was the chief superintendent of Bengaluru Central Prison at Parappana Agrahara in 2018, when convict Shankar A Aradhya was released using the forged document.

Police allege that Somashekar knew the Supreme Court order produced to secure Shankar’s release was fake but authorised his release anyway. Shankar’s wife has also alleged that the officer sexually exploited her as part of a deal to facilitate her husband’s release, according to media reports. 

Somashekar was arrested on October 4 by a special police team led by Electronics City Deputy Commissioner of Police M Narayana. He was produced before a local court on Monday and remanded in police custody until October 9.

The case came to light after the current superintendent-in-charge of Bengaluru Central Prison discovered in May that the release order used for Shankar was forged and lodged a police complaint. Police subsequently arrested Srikanth S, who was then a second division assistant in the prison’s Convict Prisoner Section and is now a first division assistant.

Police allege that Srikanth forged a copy of a Supreme Court order dated November 2, 2018, showing that Shankar’s criminal appeal had been allowed and that he was to be released. Based on the document, Shankar was released from the prison on November 13, 2018.

During the investigation, Shankar’s wife told police that Somashekar had also helped secure her husband’s release. Police allege that she had come in contact with Srikanth and that a deal was struck to get Shankar out of prison. According to a police officer, Srikanth had initially sought Rs 12 lakh, but she paid Rs 6 lakh before Shankar was released using the forged order.

The police have further alleged that Somashekar sexually exploited Shankar’s wife in return for facilitating the release. The allegations form part of the remand application submitted before the court.

Police also alleged that Somashekar extended undue favours to Shankar even before his release. Despite Shankar having previously absconded while on parole, Somashekar allegedly granted him 15-day parole on three occasions in 2018.

The parole approvals were allegedly granted despite adverse remarks by prison staff indicating that Shankar was not eligible. Police have also questioned the verification records maintained while granting the paroles.

According to the remand application, Somashekar recorded that he had verified Shankar’s credentials by calling 23390847, which he stated was the telephone number of the Chandra Layout police station. Police later found that the number did not belong to the station.

The investigation into the forged release began after a petition by an insider at the prison was brought to the attention of senior officials. Alok Kumar, Director General of Police, Prisons and Correctional Services, said the petition had been pending for four years before he ordered an inquiry after taking charge.

“It 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,” he said.

City Police Commissioner Seemanth Kumar Singh said a police team had travelled to Delhi to verify the authenticity of the Supreme Court documents.

“To confirm that the accused had forged documents, we had sent a police team to New Delhi few months back. There, they met the Supreme court registrar and learnt that the documents were forged,” he said.

Shankar had been serving a life sentence in a kidnapping-for-ransom case registered by Chickpet police. He was sentenced to life imprisonment and fined Rs 10,000 by the Fast Track Court-I. His appeals before the Karnataka High Court and the Supreme Court were unsuccessful.

Police later arrested Shankar again. His wife and Srikanth were also arrested during the investigation and remanded to judicial custody.

Police have alleged that Somashekar did not cooperate with the investigation and concealed information related to the case. His police custody has now been extended until October 9 for further questioning.