A former college principal from Odisha, India, has received a life sentence for orchestrating a deadly parcel bomb attack that resulted in the deaths of a newlywed man and his great aunt. Punjilal Meher, 56, was found guilty of murder, attempted murder, and the illegal use of explosives in a case that has shocked the nation.
The bomb, disguised as a wedding gift, was delivered to the residence of 26-year-old Soumya Sekhar Sahu just days after his marriage. When the couple opened the package, it detonated, killing Soumya and his 85-year-old great aunt, Jemamani Sahu, while his wife, Reema, who had unwrapped the parcel, sustained critical injuries.
The tragic details of the bombing
The court took into account the prosecution’s assertion that the crime was particularly heinous, yet it decided against categorizing it as a “rarest of the rare” case, which would warrant the death penalty. The incident took place in February 2018 in Patnagarh, a quiet locality within Odisha’s Bolangir district. The victims had been married for merely five days when the explosive-laden parcel arrived at their home, purportedly sent from Raipur in Chhattisgarh, located over 230 kilometers away.
As Soumya attempted to open the parcel, a powerful explosion erupted in their kitchen, resulting in the tragic deaths of both him and his great aunt. Reema, then just 22 years old, endured severe burns, a punctured eardrum, and psychological trauma.
Investigation leads to the suspect
Following an extensive investigation, authorities apprehended Meher, then 49, who had been a teacher and the former principal at a college where Soumya’s mother worked. Investigators revealed that Meher bore a grudge stemming from professional rivalry and had meticulously planned the attack. He used a false identity and address to dispatch the bomb from Raipur, opting for a courier service devoid of CCTV surveillance or parcel scanning.
The bomb made a treacherous journey, traveling over 650 kilometers by bus before reaching its destination. According to investigators, the device was crudely constructed but lethal, wrapped in jute thread and rigged to explode upon opening. The parcel bore a fictitious sender’s name, “SK Sharma,” complicating the investigation.
For weeks, investigators struggled to find leads, scrutinizing thousands of phone records and interviewing over 100 individuals. Among these was a man who had made a threatening phone call following Reema’s engagement. However, the investigation took a turn when an anonymous letter reached the local police chief, suggesting new suspects and motives linked to “betrayal” and financial disputes.
“It was clear that the sender knew more about the crime than we did. By writing that it was being sent by a messenger, he wanted to tell us that the crime was not the work of a local man,”
the police officer, Arun Bothra, stated in 2018. The handwriting on the parcel’s receipt had been misidentified, appearing to correspond more closely to “Sinha” rather than “Sharma.” The letter writer seemed to possess insider knowledge, leading investigators to believe that the sender was likely the perpetrator.
Eventually, the victim’s mother recognized the writing style and phrasing of the letter as that of Meher, a colleague she had replaced as principal. Initially, the police had dismissed Meher’s rivalry with the victim’s family as typical academic competition. However, he soon emerged as the prime suspect.
Under interrogation, Meher initially provided an improbable account of being coerced into delivering the letter. However, he later purportedly confessed to crafting the bomb using hoarded firecrackers, extracting gunpowder, and dispatching it via courier from Raipur. To create an alibi, he allegedly left his phone at home, circumvented CCTV by avoiding train travel, and even attended both the wedding and funeral of the victims.