A major prison forgery scandal has rocked Mizoram after 17 convicts lodged in Lunglei district jail were allegedly released using fabricated court documents and forged release orders, triggering a police probe and the arrest of two accused. According to police, the prisoners—serving sentences in cases under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, and theft—were fraudulently released between January 30 and March 18.
The scandal came to light after Lunglei District and Sessions Judge R Lalduhawmi filed a First Information Report (FIR) at Lunglei police station on April 27. Suspicion was raised during a court hearing on April 24 when two undertrial prisoners, Malsawmtluanga and Dokapthanga, presented purported release orders from the Lunglei District Court and the Gauhati High Court, claiming they had been granted bail on a bond of Rs 50,000.
The judge grew wary after noting she had presided over their case just a day earlier and had fixed the next hearing for May 8. She personally visited the district jail to verify the documents, where it was discovered that several inmates had already been released using forged orders. An investigation was immediately launched, with police tracking 15 individuals named in the complaint. So far, 11 of the released convicts have been rearrested by Lunglei police, while one was apprehended by Khawzawl police.
Another individual reportedly died after being released. Further inquiry revealed that a total of 17 convicts had secured their release through the fake documents. Police have identified two alleged masterminds behind the racket—Jeremia Lalthangtura (25), an undertrial prisoner lodged in Lunglei district jail and a resident of Zemabawk in Aizawl, and C Laltlanhlua (31), a part-time ambulance driver attached to the jail and a resident of Republic Vengthlang in Aizawl. The duo was arrested on May 1 and remanded to judicial custody on May 7.
Investigators allege that Jeremia orchestrated the operation from inside the prison, offering fellow inmates false assurances of securing release or filing appeals through a lawyer in exchange for money. Prisoners were reportedly charged between Rs 4,000 and Rs 50,000, with the proceeds allegedly shared between the two accused.
The forged documents were created using computers at a printing and photocopy shop in Lunglei’s Rahsi Veng locality, as well as an office computer inside the district jail. Laltlanhlua is suspected to have facilitated the process by accessing office keys and keeping watch while the documents were prepared.
The fake orders were then submitted to jail authorities, who acted on them, believing them to be genuine. Police said the investigation is ongoing, and efforts are underway to determine whether more individuals were involved in the elaborate prison release racket.
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