Balangir: Punjilal Meher, the accused in the parcel bomb blast case in Patnagarh of Odisha’s Balangir district, is aspiring to be a journalist.
In a few hours, Meher, now lodged in Patnagarh jail, will sit for a test for journalism course offered under the Odisha State Open University, prison sources said.
It may be noted here that Meher, an English lecturer at Jyoti Vikas College in Patnagarh
, had allegedly sent a parcel bomb to the house of Sanjukta Sahu, the principal of the college, to take revenge over a job related dispute.
The bomb was wrapped in a gift package and sent by Meher from Raipur in Chhattisgarh to Sanjukta’s house on the occasion of her son Soumya Sekhar’s marriage on February 23, 2018. Soumya and Sanjukta’s mother-in-law Jemamani died in the explosion while Soumya’s newly-married wife Rimarani sustained injuries.
The Odisha High Court had rejected the bail plea of Meher in July, 2022. A division bench had directed to expedite hearing of the case and to submit the list of witnesses in the lower court.
Following investigation, police had filed a 300-page preliminary charge sheet in the court in August, 2018. The charge sheet mentioned Meher as the accused.