/odishatv/media/agency_attachments/2025/07/18/2025-07-18t114635091z-640x480-otv-eng-sukant-rout-1-2025-07-18-17-16-35.png)
/odishatv/media/member_avatars/uploadimage/library/16_9/16_9_1/IMAGE_1618576182.JPG )
/odishatv/media/post_attachments/uploadimage/library/16_9/16_9_0/recent_photo_1725350998.webp)
Patnagarh Court
Odisha Crime Branch former IG Arun Bothra on Tuesday deposed before Patnagarh Additional District Judge court in connection with the wedding gift parcel bomb explosion case that claimed two lives including a newlywed in 2018.
According to sources, Bothra, who was leading the investigation then, appeared before the court as the sixtieth witness.
Bothra, as a witness, holds utmost significance in the case as the senior cop cracked the mystery surrounding the parcel bomb explosion and arrested the prime accused Punjilal Meher, an English lecturer.
During the investigation, the top cop recreated the entire crime scene and video graphed the entire act how Meher manufactured the parcel bomb and sent it to the victim’s family through a courier.
Notably on February 23, 2018, Soumyasekhar Sahoo and his grandmother were killed in an explosion while unwrapping a parcel they had received as wedding gift by courier. Deceased Soumyasekhar’s wife Reema Sahoo was critically injured in the incident.
Also Read | Watch 11-ft long King Cobra Snake Rescued from House in Odisha's Mayurbhanj
Meher reportedly hatched the conspiracy to settle personal scores with Sanjukta -mother of deceased Soumyashekhar after she took over as the new Principal of the Bhainsa College.
/odishatv/media/media_files/2025/09/22/advertise-with-us-2025-09-22-12-54-26.jpeg)