Police Get Lead In Patnagarh Gift Box Blast Case

Balangir: Nine days after the tragic incident in which a bridegroom and his grandmother died and the bride seriously injured when a wedding gift box exploded in their house at Bholanathpada of Bramhapura village under Patnagarh police limits in Odisha’s Balangir district, police on Saturday claimed that it has got a lead in the case.

Informing this to the media here, Balangir SP K Siva Subramani said following the incident two special teams of the district police had gone to Raipur and Bengaluru for investigation.

“The team after its investigation returned this afternoon. Going by the outcome of the investigation, police has got the lead and the culprits would be arrested very soon,” he informed.

However, the SP did not divulge the details to the media saying it would hamper the investigation.

He said soon after the incident that took place on February 23, police began its investigation. In course of investigation, it came to know that the gift parcel was sent from Raipur by one RK Sharma through Skyking courier.

To get the details of the sender, a special team of Balangir police had gone to Raipur and begun investigation with the local police.

Later, another special team of police had gone to Bengaluru in this connection.

Son of a lecturer Rabindra Kumar Sahu Bholanathpada, Soumya Sekhar Sahu got married on February 18.

Tragedy struck in the afternoon on February 23 when Soumya with his wife Rinarani and grandmother Jemamani Sahu were seriously injured after one of the gift boxes that they were opening suddenly exploded.

The trio was rushed to Patnagarh government hospital where the doctors declared Jemamani as received dead. As the condition of Soumya worsened, he was shifted to Ispat General Hospital in Rourkela where he succumbed to his injuries. Rinarani was initially admitted to the Veer Surendra Sai Institute of Medical Sciences and Research (VIMSAR) in Burla with nearly 60 percent burn injuries. Later, she was shifted to SCB Medical College and Hospital in Cuttack where she is presently admitted to the Plastic Surgery ward.

Meanwhile, a team of Patnagarh Police arrived at the SCB Medical College in the evening on Saturday and recorded the statement of Rinarani about the incident.