The fraud reportedly surfaced after prison authorities sought verification from the Supreme Court regarding the authenticity of the order | MURALI KUMAR It was nearly eight years ago that Shankar Armugam, who was serving life imprisonment after being convicted in a 2001 kidnapping-for-ransom case, walked out of the Parappana Agrahara Central Prison. The authorities have realised only now that the Supreme Court documents he produced to secure his release were allegedly forged, triggering an investigation into suspected collusion and grave procedural lapses inside the Prison Department.This came to light after the Director-General of Prisons received a petition alleging that the convict had secured his release from the prison by submitting fake Supreme Court orders. Following the complaint, an internal probe was ordered, which reportedly confirmed that the release order was forged.Case registeredBased on the findings, the Parappana Agrahara Police police have registered a case under Sections 465, 466, 468, 471, 472, and 420 of the Indian Penal Code related to forgery, use of forged documents, and cheating.According to the complaint filed by the prison authorities, Shankar was serving life imprisonment after being convicted by the Fast Track Court-I in Bengaluru City under Section 364A of the IPC for kidnapping for ransom, along with charges under Section 120B for criminal conspiracy.The complaint states that prison officials received what appeared to be an official communication purportedly issued by the Supreme Court of India in Criminal Appeal. Based on the documents, the convict reportedly paid a fine of ₹10,000 and was released from prison on November 13, 2018.However, years later, authorities discovered that the Supreme Court order dated November 3, 2018, submitted before prison authorities was allegedly fake.SC verficationThe fraud reportedly surfaced after prison authorities sought verification from the Supreme Court regarding the authenticity of the order. The apex court is said to have clarified that no such release order had been issued and that the documents produced before prison officials were forged.According to the police, as per standard operating procedure, Supreme Court orders are not communicated through physical postal mail, and are instead transmitted electronically through official channels. Investigators suspect there were serious lapses on the part of prison officials who failed to verify the authenticity of the documents or follow mandatory SOPs before releasing the convict.Police have now initiated a detailed inquiry to ascertain whether any prison officials were complicit in the fraud or negligently facilitated the convict’s release.Efforts are also under way to trace and secure the convict, who has remained outside prison since 2018. Published - May 23, 2026 07:55 pm IST
R G Kar Medical College. File | The young medic was raped and murdered in the hospital on the night of August 9, 2024, which caused an uproar in the State as well as among the doctors' community across the country.There have been allegations that evidence was destroyed and attempts were made to downplay the incident in its immediate aftermath.A high court division Bench comprising Justices Shampa Sarkar and Tirthankar Ghosh on Thursday (May 21) said the CBI's joint director, east, will head the team. The other two members of the team would be decided within 48 hours of the court's order.The Bench said that, considering the social ramifications of the gruesome incident, a three-member SIT would look into charges of evidence destruction and allegations made by the medic's parents that there were attempts to hush up and downplay the incident.The SIT was directed to probe the developments from the time the trainee doctor had dinner at the hospital till her cremation the next evening. The court directed the SIT to file a comprehensive report by June 25, when the matter will be heard again.The parents of the doctor moved the high court seeking further investigation into the rape and murder of their daughter, claiming that more than one person was involved in the gruesome crime.Civic volunteer Sanjay Roy was sentenced to life imprisonment for the rape and murder of the post-graduate trainee doctor at the State-run RG Kar Medical College and Hospital.The division Bench said that it is of the view that the investigation, which is continuing, should focus on the lapses which have been identified by the CBI in the report dated March 28, 2025.It noted that the CBI has indicated such lapses on the part of the police and the hospital authorities during the investigation, prior to the investigation being handed over to the central agency by the high court."We are of the considered view that the focus of the investigation should be directed towards all the surrounding circumstances of the fateful night, from the stage when the victim had dinner with her doctor friends till the time of cremation," the division Bench said."Although we do not comment on the credibility of the investigating officer, we are of the view that considering the nature of the offence, the social ramifications, insecurity of women at the workplace, a special investigating team comprising of three members, headed by the Joint Director, CBI, Eastern Zone, be constituted" which will probe the issues flagged, the Bench said.The court said that the SIT "shall not only focus on the issues relating to destruction of evidence or shielding any offender, but shall revisit the grievance of the petitioners to that extent." The division Bench said that if required, the petitioners and any other person that the SIT may deem necessary will be interrogated.The court asked the CBI to produce before it on the next date of hearing the case diary along with all relevant materials and documents. Published - May 22, 2026 06:50 am IST
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