Patnagarh Parcel Blast: Accused Punjilal Returns To Jail After Mother’s Funeral

Balangir: Punjilal Meher, the prime accused in the Patnagarh parcel bomb blast case, went back to the Balangir district jail on Sunday night after cremating his mother.

Earlier on Saturday, the additional district judge (ADJ) court in Patnagarh had given a one-day interim bail to Meher for the funeral of his mother, who had passed away at the district headquarters hospital.

On Sunday morning, police took him to his native village at Rampur for the funeral. After performing the post-death rituals, Meher was escorted back to jail in the night.

Notably, the Crime Branch police had arrested Meher on April 25, 2018, in connection with the parcel bomb blast in a house at Bholanathpada village on February 23, when newly-wed couple Soumya Sekhar Sahu and Rimarani were grievously injured along with their grandmother while opening the parcel assuming it a gift pack.

While Soumya Sekhar and his grandmother succumbed to their injuries, Rimamani was rushed to VIMSAR in Burla and later shifted to SCB Medical College Hospital, Cuttack.

Following a request by Rimarani and her family, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik had ordered a CBI SIT probe into the incident.