Patnagarh Parcel Gift Blast: CB Takes Mastermind On Six-Day Remand

Balangir: Odisha Crime Branch on Thursday took Punjilal Meher, the alleged mastermind in Patnagarh parcel gift blast case, on six-day remand.

Though the state investigating agency had moved Patnagarh SDJM on Wednesday, seeking 14-day remand of Punjilal, the court allowed them six days in custody.

Punjilal, English lecturer and former principal of Jyoti Bikash College at Bhainsa, has been charged under Sections 302 and 307 of IPC and the Explosive Offences Act.

The CB had picked up Punjilal from his house at Meherpada on April 22 for interrogation in connection with the case.

“The Crime Branch sleuths, in course of their investigation, zeroed in on Punjilal Meher as the mastermind in the parcel gift blast case. The investigating agency confirmed his complicity during its investigation in Raipur. The accused will be forwarded to court this afternoon,” Director General of Police (DGP) RP Sharma had said.

However, six other suspects– Skyking Courier owner Dilip Das, Courier delivery boys Sushant Seth and Baibhasuta Bindhani, Umesh Matari, Siba Prasad Sa and contractor Chandramani Meher—detained for interrogation were released on Wednesday.

According to sources, the office of the Balangir Superintendent of Police had received an anonymous letter a few days after the blast. In the letter, addressed to the SP, it was alleged that police instead of nabbing the prime accused in the case had been harassing innocent people unnecessarily by calling them up to the police station and interrogating them. The modus operandi of the police will give the prime accused an opportunity to escape, it added.

This letter provided police a lead to zero in on Punjilal. In the course of investigation, police matched the handwriting in the letter with that of the suspects it had interrogated and finally came to know that it was written by Punjilal.

Police were also able to trace the post office from where Punjilal had posted the letter after tracking his call records.