BENGALURU, Oct. 7 -- A four-year old petition inside Bengaluru Central Prison had raised questions about the release of a life convict on a forged Supreme Court order, a case that has now led to the arrest of a senior prison official and allegations that he sexually exploited the convict's wife while offering to help free her husband.

M Somashekar, now deputy inspector general of prisons, North Range, was arrested on October 4 and remanded to police custody until October 9.

He was the chief superintendent of Bengaluru Central Prison in 2018, when Shankar A was released using the purported court order. Police allege that Somashekar was aware that the document was forged and authorised Shankar's release.

The petition had remained with se...