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When bogus bail orders in the name of the highest court rocked Tamil Nadu
The scandal shocked the State in the 1990s. Many hardcore criminals walked out of the Palayamkottai and Cuddalore Central Prisons by producing forged bail orders. Ironically, these orders were fabricated in prison itself. The investigation revealed a well-coordinated network of prisoners and private individuals that was behind the forgery
An infamous incident: A dozen prisoners, all life convicts, were freed from the Cuddalore Central Prison on the basis of fake bail orders. In fact, the elaborate falsification started unravelling when suspicions arose over the sudden release of M. Masilamani and R. Vasu, convicted for rioting and murder, from the prison.
| Photo Credit: C. VENKATACHALAPATHY
In the 1990s, a forgery scandal shocked Tamil Nadu. Hardened criminals, convicted of grave offences like murder, walked out of prison, presenting fraudulent bail orders claimed to have been issued by the Supreme Court of India.
By the time law enforcement agencies uncovered the deception, 156 prisoners had been released from the Palayamkottai Central Prison and a dozen prisoners, all life convicts, from the Cuddalore Central Prison.
The investigation revealed a well-coordinated network of prisoners and private individuals that was behind the forgery of documents. The masterminds produced the fake orders in the prison itself by obtaining stationery, counterfeit seals, and other necessary materials from external sources.
Most of them recaptured
While most of the escapees were recaptured, one Sri Lankan national remains at large. The Crime Branch-CID (CB-CID) of the Tamil Nadu Police alerted Interpol, which has issued a Red Corner Notice to apprehend him.
The elaborate falsification started unravelling when suspicions arose over the sudden release of M. Masilamani and R. Vasu, convicted for rioting and murder, from the Cuddalore prison. Preliminary inquiries indicated that they had secured bail from the Supreme Court after their appeal against the life sentences imposed by the trial court was rejected by the Madras High Court.
However, when Additional Superintendent Muniandi, of the Cuddalore Central Prison, noticed irregularities in the bail orders, the case was referred to the Chief Judicial Magistrate’s Court, Cuddalore. It was soon confirmed that no such bail orders had been issued by the Supreme Court.
Further investigation revealed that Masilamani and Vasu were not the only convicts who had escaped with the help of forged documents; several other life convicts had done so. Among them were Paramasivam and Ramu, alias Ramamurthy, who were also sentenced to life imprisonment for rioting and murder, and K. Devan, alias Devaraj, and V. Lingan, alias Lingaraj, convicted of murder in a case filed by the Ambattur police in Chennai. Despite their appeals having been dismissed by the Madras High Court, these convicts produced fake bail orders supposedly from the Supreme Court.
As the extent of the scandal became clear, the Director-General of Police handed over all such cases to the CB-CID. A special investigation team followed the leads that pointed to a condemned prisoner, named Papanasam, whose death sentence was commuted to life imprisonment. Housed at the Palayamkottai Central Prison, Papanasam admitted to the investigators that he had conspired with Rajan, a fellow inmate and Sri Lankan national, who was also serving a life sentence. With the help of visitors, they obtained the materials needed to forge the bail orders that led to the release of 156 prisoners from the Palayamkottai prison alone.
When Papanasam and Rajan were later transferred to the Cuddalore Central Prison, they enlisted the help of Vijayakumar, an electrician, to continue the forgery. All the 12 escaped convicts were rearrested and lodged in the Cuddalore prison.
One died during investigation
Though one of the escapees died during the investigation, Rajan, also known as Maran or Udayakumar, is still at large. Unconfirmed reports suggest that he may have fled to Sri Lanka through illicit channels. A Red Corner Notice is still active for him, according to the entries in police records.
A detailed case report, written by investigators, does not reveal the connivance of the jail staff, though the forgery of the fake bail orders involved smuggling in of stationery, rubber stamps, scissors, and printed papers. The role of the advocates who submitted the bail orders in the designated courts and produced sureties was not explained either.
It is also not clear whether all the 156 inmates who were freed from the Palayamkottai Central Prison with fake bail orders were recaptured and charged with fraud. With not much of computerisation, especially email, and lack of surveillance cameras, the investigation was conventional, relying as it did on physical verification and records sent by post.
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