Patnagarh Parcel Bomb Case: Accused Punjilal Walks Out On Bail For Mother’s Funeral

Balangir: Punjilal Meher, the prime accused in the Patnagarh parcel bomb blast case, was released from jail on interim bail on Sunday to perform the last rites of his mother at Patnagarh in Balangir district.

On Saturday, a local court had granted Punjilal bail after his mother’s death. He will be taken from Balangir jail to Patnagarh for the funeral amidst tight security.

Punjilal’s mother Indumati Meher had succumbed to cancer on Friday morning. However, the family has been waiting for Punjilal to light her funeral pyre.

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 the newly-wed couple Soumya Sekhar Sahu and his wife 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.