In a case that shocked India with its gruesome ingenuity, a former college principal in Odisha has been sentenced to life imprisonment for murdering a newlywed man and his elderly relative with a parcel bomb disguised as a wedding gift.
Punjilal Meher, 56, was found guilty on Wednesday by a court in Bolangir district, seven years after the February 2018 explosion that killed 26-year-old software engineer Soumya Sekhar Sahu and his 85-year-old great aunt Jemamani.
The victim’s wife Reema survived but suffered severe injuries and trauma.
The court convicted Meher – once an English lecturer and principal at a local college – of murder, attempted murder and the use of explosives, reported the Hindustan Times.
While prosecutors described the crime as “heinous,” the judge declined to label it a “rarest of the rare” case, thereby sparing Meher the death penalty. Instead, he was handed a life sentence and ordered to pay a fine of Rs50,000 ($758).
The parcel, neatly wrapped and marked as containing sweets and gifts, was delivered to Mr Sahu’s home in Patnagarh, a small town in Odisha, and appeared to be from Raipur, some 230 kilometers away.
When Mr Sahu tugged on the thread to open it, a deadly blast tore through the kitchen, instantly killing him and fatally injuring his aunt.
Ms Reema, then just 22, suffered burns, a punctured eardrum and deep psychological scars.
At first, investigators were baffled, reported the BBC. The bomb had travelled over 650km by bus, passing through several hands before it reached the unsuspecting family. The case went cold – until an anonymous letter reached the Bolangir police chief in April 2018.
The cryptic letter claimed the bomb had been sent by “SK Sinha”, not “SK Sharma” as written on the courier receipt. It hinted at betrayal and financial motives, suggesting involvement by multiple people who were now “beyond police reach”.
This odd detail about the misread name on the receipt caught the attention of police officer Arun Bothra, then head of Odisha’s crime branch. He realised only someone closely involved in the plot could have known about that subtle error.
The clue turned the investigation inward. Suspicion soon fell on Meher, who had been replaced as principal by Mr Sahu’s mother. While initially dismissed as routine academic rivalry, it now appeared to be the motive behind a meticulously planned murder.
Police say Meher used the Deepavali festival as cover to hoard firecrackers and extract gunpowder. He built the bomb himself and mailed it under a false identity using a courier that had no CCTV or parcel scanning.
To build an alibi, he left his mobile phone at home and made sure to mark his attendance at college before slipping away to Raipur by train – without buying a ticket to avoid surveillance.
Even more chilling, Meher had attended both the wedding and funeral of the victims.
In court, Meher claimed he was coerced into delivering the package. But under mounting evidence – including handwriting matches with the anonymous letter – he was ultimately convicted.
Outside the courtroom, Mr Sahu’s father Rabindra Sahu expressed mixed emotions. “We were hoping for capital punishment, but we respect the court’s verdict and are grateful that justice has been served,” he said.
