A former faculty principal within the japanese Indian state of Odisha has been sentenced to life in jail for sending a parcel bomb that killed a newlywed man and his nice aunt in 2018.
A court docket discovered Punjilal Meher, 56, responsible of homicide, tried homicide, and use of explosives in what grew to become generally known as the “marriage ceremony bomb” case that surprised India.
The bomb, disguised as a marriage reward, was delivered to the house of Soumya Sekhar Sahu, a 26-year-old software program engineer, simply days after his marriage ceremony.
When the couple opened the package deal, it exploded – killing Sahu and his nice aunt, and leaving his spouse, Reema, who opened the package deal, critically wounded.
Whereas acknowledging the prosecution’s argument that it was a “heinous” crime, the court docket declined to categorise it as a “rarest of the uncommon” case deserving the demise penalty.
The BBC lined the incident in an in depth two-part investigative sequence.
The February 2018 explosion came about in Patnagarh, a quiet city in Odisha’s Bolangir district.
The victims had been married simply 5 days and have been making ready lunch when a parcel arrived at their dwelling. It was addressed to Soumya and seemed to be a marriage reward, allegedly despatched from Raipur in Chattisgarh state, over 230km (142 miles) away.
As Soumya pulled a thread on the parcel to open it, a strong blast tore by way of the kitchen, killing him and his 85-year-old great-aunt Jemamani Sahu. Reema, then 22, survived with critical burns, a punctured eardrum, and trauma.
After a chronic investigation, police arrested Meher, then 49, a trainer and former principal of an area faculty the place Soumya’s mom labored.
Investigators had advised me then that Meher harboured a grudge over skilled rivalry and meticulously deliberate the assault. He used a false title and handle to mail the bomb from Raipur, selecting a courier service with out CCTV or parcel scanning.
The bomb travelled over 650km (40 miles) by bus, passing by way of a number of arms earlier than being delivered. Investigators stated it was a crude however lethal system wrapped in jute thread, rigged to detonate on opening.
The parcel carrying the explosive bore a faux title – SK Sharma from Raipur. Weeks handed with no clear suspects. Investigators scoured hundreds of cellphone information and interrogated over 100 folks, together with one man who had made a threatening name after Reema’s engagement – however nothing caught.
Then, in April, an nameless letter reached the native police chief.
It claimed the bomb had been despatched beneath the title “SK Sinha,” not Sharma, and cryptically talked about motives of “betrayal” and cash.
The letter claimed three males had “undertaken the undertaking” and have been now “past police attain”. It cited the groom’s “betrayal” and cash – hinting at a scorned lover or property dispute – as motives. It additionally requested police to cease harassing innocents.
The letter turned the investigation.
Arun Bothra, a police officer who then headed Odisha’s crime department, seen that the handwriting on the parcel’s receipt had been misinterpret: it did resemble “Sinha” greater than “Sharma.”
Crucially, the letter author appeared to know this – one thing solely the sender might have identified.
The police now believed the suspect had despatched the letter himself.
“It was clear that the sender knew extra concerning the crime than we did. By writing that it was being despatched by a messenger, he wished to inform us that the crime was not the work of an area man. He wished to inform us that the plot was executed by three folks. He wished to be taken significantly, so he was sort of blowing his faux cowl by mentioning a mistake we had made,” Mr Bothra advised me in 2018.
The sufferer’s mom, a school trainer, recognised the letter’s writing fashion and phrasing as that of a colleague, Meher, a former principal she had changed.
Police had beforehand dismissed Meher’s office rivalry as routine educational politics. Now he grew to become the prime suspect.
Below questioning, Meher initially provided an implausible story about being pressured to ship the letter beneath risk.
Police allege he later confessed: he had hoarded firecrackers throughout Diwali, extracted gunpowder, constructed the bomb, and mailed it from Raipur utilizing a courier.
He allegedly left his cellphone at dwelling to create an alibi and prevented CCTV by not shopping for a prepare ticket. Meher had even attended each the sufferer’s marriage ceremony and funeral.
Further reporting by Sandeep Sahu in Bhubaneshwar
