Aizawl police have uncovered a major forgery racket involving the fraudulent release of 17 prisoners from a district jail using fake court documents, officials said on May 9.

According to a statement issued by Mizoram Police, two persons — an inmate and a private ambulance driver — have been arrested for allegedly masterminding the operation.

The case came to light on April 27 when the Additional District and Sessions Judge of Lunglei filed an FIR at the Lunglei police station after two undertrial prisoners from Masawltnuanga and Dokphunga appeared before the court despite being officially shown as released on bail.

The duo had reportedly produced forged release orders before the Lunglei district court and the Gauhati High Court, claiming they had been discharged on a bond of ₹50,000.

Suspicion arose after the accused failed to appear for hearings on the scheduled dates. Police later discovered that several prisoners had already secured release from jail using forged court orders.

Investigators subsequently launched a probe and identified 15 individuals named in the complaint. Of them, 11 have been rearrested and sent back to jail by the Lunglei police, while one person was found to have died after being released from prison.

Police said the illegally released prisoners included convicts serving sentences under the POCSO Act, the NDPS Act and other serious criminal cases.

Further investigation revealed that a total of 17 convicts had fraudulently obtained release between January 30 and March 18 this year using forged papers.

The arrested accused have been identified as Jeremiah Lalthanglua (25), a resident of Zembawk locality in Aizawl, and C Lalrinthluaii (31), a private ambulance driver attached to the district jail.

Police said Jeremiah’s wife was an undertrial prisoner lodged in Lunglei jail, and investigators believe he operated the racket from within the prison premises.

According to police findings, Jeremiah allegedly secured the help of a lawyer known to him in exchange for money. Suspects reportedly paid between ₹4,000 and ₹50,000 per inmate to obtain forged release documents.

The forged orders were allegedly prepared using computers at a xerox and printing shop in Lunglei’s Rahsi Veng locality, along with another office computer inside the district jail.

Police further alleged that Lalrinthluaii helped by arranging office keys and keeping watch while fake documents were prepared. Jail authorities reportedly released the prisoners after accepting the forged court orders as genuine.

Officials said the investigation into the racket is still ongoing.