Bhubaneswar: Cuttack police on Sunday arrested Choudwar Circle Jail Senior Superintendent Sujit Kumar Raula in connection with an alleged forgery and record-tampering case following the escape of two murder accused from the prison in October last year.
Raula was arrested days after the Orissa High Court, on August 29, withdrew his interim protection and rejected his anticipatory bail plea. Police arrested him in a forgery case registered at Choudwar police station on January 17 on the basis of a complaint lodged by former jailor Santoshini Dash.
According to the complaint, Raula allegedly manipulated prison records and forged Dash’s signature following the escape of undertrials Madhukant Rana and Raja Sahani from the jail premises late on October 2, 2025.
Following the jailbreak, two warders were suspended, while Dash, who was then serving as the jailor of Choudwar jail, was transferred to Kantabanji Sub-Jail in Balangir district.
Dash alleged that Raula had remained absent from duty without authorisation and returned only after the two inmates escaped. She further alleged that the official gate-entry register for October 1, 2 and 3 was deliberately tampered with to show that Raula had been present in the jail during duty hours.
She also alleged that Raula forged her signature in the jail minutes book on October 2 in an attempt to shift responsibility for the security lapse and falsely implicate her.
Raula, however, denied the allegations and filed a counter-complaint against Dash on January 18, accusing her of dereliction of duty and indirectly facilitating the jailbreak.
In his complaint, Raula alleged that Dash, who was responsible for the overall security of the jail, had allowed the inmates to leave their cells on two occasions without his permission.
The allegations and counter-allegations are part of the case being investigated by police.
