Sharmili Mallick

Bolangir: The Crime Branch today filed a 300-page chargesheet against Punjilal Meher- the sole accused in the sensational wedding gift blast case at the Sub-Divisional Judicial Magistrate (SDJM) Court in Patnagarh.

The chargesheet mentioned that Punjilal had hatched the conspiracy to settle his personal scores with Sanjukta- mother of deceased Soumyashekhar after she took over as the new Principal of Jyoti Vikash College in Bhainsa.

Prior to Sanjukta's appointment, Punjilal was holding the post of Principal in the college.

As many as 72 eyewitnesses including Sanjukta and her husband Rabindra Sahoo, 12 lecturers and staff of Jyoti Vikash College, five police officials, DTDC Courier staff in Raipur and owner of Skyking Courier Service have been listed in the chargesheet against Punjilal.

Two employees of the motor cycle stand at Kantabanji, where Punjilal kept his motorbike before leaving for Raipur have also been included in the list of witnesses.

In the chargesheet, the CB stated that the reports of the video recorded during crime reconstruction where Punjilal demonstrated making of the parcel bomb sent to Forensic Laboratory in Bhubaneswar is yet to come.

Similarly, the reports of mobile phone, pen drive and hard disk recovered from the possession of the accused sent to Gujarat Laboratory are yet to reach, the CB said in the chargesheet.

Once the reports arrive, they will be presented before the court, informed the CB adding that it has not been able to track the three main eyewitnesses- the auto-rickshaw driver and two cycle-rickshaw pullers who ferried Punjilal to the courier agencies to dispatch the parcel in Raipur.

Meanwhile, the CB is likely to visit Raipur again in connection with the case.

On February 23, newly-wed groom Soumyasekhar and his grandmother were killed in an explosion while unwrapping a parcel they had received as wedding gift by courier in Bolangir district. Deceased Soumyasekhar’s wife Reema Sahoo had sustained critical injuries in the incident.

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