Bhubaneswar, (Reporters Pen): Sept 3: Senior IPS officer Arun Bothra testified before the Additional District Judge’s court in Patnagarh, Odisha, on Tuesday as a key witness in the high-profile 2018 parcel bomb case. Bothra, who led the investigation as IG Police of the Odisha Crime Branch, appeared before the court as the 60th witness in the case.
Bothra’s investigation was instrumental in solving the case and led to the arrest of Punjilal Meher, an English lecturer, on April 25, 2018. Meher was charged by the Crime Branch under Sections 302 and 307 of the IPC, as well as the Explosive Offences Act.
The incident in question occurred on February 23, 2018, when Soumyasekhar Sahoo and his grandmother were killed in an explosion while unwrapping a parcel sent as a wedding gift. Soumyasekhar’s wife, Reema Sahoo, was critically injured in the blast.
Punjilal Meher, a former principal, allegedly orchestrated the attack as part of a conspiracy to settle scores with Soumyasekhar’s mother, Sanjukta, who had recently become the Principal of Jyoti Bikash College at Bhainsa, near Patnagarh.
