Punjilal Meher, who is serving jail term for masterminding the infamous Patnagarh wedding bomb blast incident, is now-a-days teaching English to fellow inmates in Bolangir jail.
Meher was a lecturer of Jyoti Bikash College at Bhainsa before his arrest in the bombing case that had claimed the life of a newlywed man, Soumya Sekhar Sahu and his grandmother Jemamani in February 2018.
As he was an English lecturer, Meher has been engaged by the jail authorities to teach the subject to inmates. He takes the classes of the prisoners under the supervision of the jail welfare officer and superintendent.
“The welfare officer and I monitor the teaching and other activities of Punjilal Meher. He takes classes of prisoners and teaches them various topics on English. His activities and behaviour are normal,” said Dhirendranath Barik, superintendent of Bolangir jail.
The Patnagarh bombing incident, a fallout of professional jealousy, had taken place on 23 February 2018. Soumya, a 26 year old software engineer, and his grandmother, Jemamani, were killed in the parcel bomb explosion at their house few days after his wedding. Soumya's wife, Reema had suffered serious injuries in the blast.
After months of investigation, Punjilal, a colleague of Soumya's mother at Jyoti Bikash College, was arrested on April 24, 2018.
On February 8, 2019 Punjulal was shifted to Bolangir jail from Patnagarh sub-jail following allegations that he was inciting other inmates.