Fatal Bomb as 'Wedding Gift': Odisha Police Cracks Case, Pins Lecturer as Prime Accused
The lecturer wanted to exact revenge against the groom's mother, who had replaced him as a the principal of a private college in Odisha's Bolangir district.
Bhubaneswar, April 25: After two months of rigorous probe, the Odisha police has cracked down the case where a fatal bomb was masked as a 'wedding gift'. The incident had left two of a family dead in Patnagar town of Bolangir district.
An English lecturer, identified as Punjilal Meher has been pinned as the prime accused by Odisha's Criminal Investigation Department. Meher, the investigators claimed on Tuesday, wanted to exact revenge from the groom's mother, Sanjukta Sahu, who had replaced him as the principal of Jyoti Vikas College.
The parcel was sent through a courier agency based in Chhattisgarh's Raipur on February 23. The gift was addressed at the Patnagar residence of Soumya Sekhar Sahu, the groom and son of Sanjukta. As soon as the parcel was opened, Soumya and his great aunt, 85-year-old Jemamani Sahu, were charred to death.
The bride, Reema, who was also at the spot, incurred severe burn injuries. She was admitted at a local medical facility for over a month.
Along with Meher, the police has detained six others who assisted the professor in procuring the bomb and sending it as a gift. The CID, however, claims the main conspirator was the lecturer himself.
Meher’s wife, Soudamini has accused the police of "framing" her husband under pressure. "Since they have no clue about the actual culprits, they want to use him as a scapegoat," she alleged.
Meanwhile, Reema, the widow of Saumya, has demanded stringent action against Meher and the other accused. "They should be hanged till death for destroying an entire family," the 22-year-old was reported as saying.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Apr 25, 2018 09:57 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).