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{{Short description|2018 parcel bombing in Odisha, India}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2021}}
The '''Patnagarh Bombing''' (also referred to as the '''Patnagarh Parcel Bomb''' in news reports) was a bombing that took place in [[Patnagarh]], a Notified area Council of [[Balangir district|Bolangir District]] in [[India]]n state of [[Odisha]], on 23 February 2018. Soumya Sekhar Sahu, a 26-year-old software engineer, and his great-aunt, Jemamani Sahu, were killed by a [[letter bomb]] delivered to Soumya's house few days after his wedding. Soumya's wife, Reema was seriously injured. After months of investigation, Police arrested a colleague of Soumya's mother whom she had replaced at the college where she taught.<ref>{{cite web |title=Patnagarh Parcel Bomb Case |url=https://www.newstrend.news/30411/balangir-patnagarh-parcel-bomb-case/ |website=newstrend.news |date=11 May 2018 |accessdate=20 April 2020}}</ref>

==Incident==
On 23 February 2018, five days after the wedding of Soumya Sekhar Sahu and Reema Sahu, an explosion occurred at their home in Patnagarh, Odisha, India as Soumya opened a just-delivered parcel. The parcel had a return address of a person unknown to either of them, S. K. Sharma of [[Raipur]], {{convert|230|km}} away. Soumya reportedly remarked, "This looks like a wedding gift. The only thing that I don't know is the sender. I don't know anyone in Raipur".<ref name="completing the project">{{cite news|title=A wedding bomb, a letter and an unlikely suspect|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-43945959|accessdate=6 May 2018|publisher=BBC News|date=5 May 2018}}</ref> The resulting explosion tore the plaster off the ceiling, cracked the walls, and hurled the kitchen window into a nearby field. Soumya and his great-aunt Jemamani, who was visiting the couple at the time, suffered 90% [[Total body surface area|TBSA]] burns and died en route to hospital. Reema was taken to hospital with serious injuries.<ref name="BBC initial story">{{cite news|title=Who sent the wedding gift bomb that killed this newlywed?|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-43497820|accessdate=12 May 2018|publisher=BBC News}}</ref>

==Investigation==
Neither of the couple had known enemies. Soumya Sekhar's parents were college lecturers. Soumya worked for a Japanese electronics firm in Bangalore.<ref name="completing the project"/>

Police still did not have a suspect a month after the fatal bombing. Pressured by media coverage, including a video of Soumya's wife wailing upon learning of her husband's death, the police turned the case over to an elite police branch in the state capital.<ref name="completing the project"/> One suspect was cleared after police traced a threatening call to Soumya shekhar, after he underwent a voluntary polygraph test,<ref name="polygraph">{{cite news|title=Parcel bomb explosion: Three suspects to undergo polygraph test|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/bhubaneswar/parcel-bomb-explosion-three-suspects-to-undergo-polygraph-test/articleshow/63198350.cms|accessdate=6 May 2018|work=Times of India|date=7 March 2018}}</ref> he was dismissed as a suspect. Police investigators traced the package to a courier company, but it had no office video surveillance of the package's customer.<ref name="completing the project"/>

==Arrest==
In April 2018, [[Balangir]] police received an anonymous letter which blamed the parcel bombing on Soumya's "betrayal" and a loss of money, possibly as a result of a property dispute. The letter clarified that the sender was an S. K. Sinha, not R. K. Sharma, and also mentioned the involvement of "three men". Police investigators spent more than a month pursuing leads in four different cities. Finally, Soumya's mother studied the letter and recalled that her colleague often used the phrase "completing the project", which was similar to the phrase in the letter of "undertaking the project".<ref name="completing the project"/><ref name="CB may take suspect to Raipur">{{cite news|title=Patnagarh parcel bomb case: Crime Branch may take Punjilal to Raipur|url=https://www.newindianexpress.com/states/odisha/2018/may/03/patnagarh-parcel-bomb-case-crime-branch-may-take-punjilal-to-raipur-1809571.html|access-date=12 May 2018|work=New Indian Express}}</ref>

Punji Lal Meher, an English teacher and formerly the principal of the Jyoti Vikas College<ref name="arrest">{{cite news|title=Odisha police arrest lecturer for fatal parcel bomb masked as wedding gift|url=https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/odisha-police-arrest-lecturer-for-fatal-parcel-bomb-masked-as-wedding-gift-say-he-planned-and-executed-crime-on-his-own/story-bWO5s4zq8vE2ztw7unzHWP.html|accessdate=12 May 2018|work=Hindustand Times}}</ref> in Balangir district who was replaced by Soumya's mother, was arrested after having been questioned earlier and dismissed as a suspect. Upon being questioned again after the receipt of the letter by the police, Meher said that he had been approached and threatened if he didn't mail a letter. The police investigator did not believe the explanation, remarking, "It was the most incredible story that we've heard from a suspect". Police sent computer hardware belonging to the suspect to an Israeli company for analysis and recovery of deleted data.<ref name="Israeli forensics">{{cite news|title=Patnagarh parcel bomb case: CB to rope in Israel agency to tighten box of evidence|url=http://www.newindianexpress.com/states/odisha/2018/apr/30/patnagarh-parcel-bomb-case-cb-to-rope-in-israel-agency-to-tighten-box-of-evidence-1808069.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180430025724/http://www.newindianexpress.com/states/odisha/2018/apr/30/patnagarh-parcel-bomb-case-cb-to-rope-in-israel-agency-to-tighten-box-of-evidence-1808069.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=30 April 2018|accessdate=6 May 2018|work=The New Indian Express|date=30 April 2018}}</ref>

Meher was accused of traveling to Raipur without his mobile phone or buying a train ticket and posting the parcel, returning the same day.<ref name="completing the project"/>

The suspect is thought to have had a desire "to be noticed" as an explanation of the bombing.<ref name="Sociopath">{{cite news|title=A sociopath born out of difficult childhood!|url=https://www.newindianexpress.com/states/odisha/2018/apr/28/a-sociopath-born-out-of-difficult-childhood-1807462.html|access-date=12 May 2018|work=The New Indian Express}}</ref> He was taken to Raipur to be confronted by witnesses.<ref name="taken to Raipur">{{cite news|title=Patnagarh bomb case: Punjilal taken to Raipur|url=https://www.newindianexpress.com/states/odisha/2018/may/06/patnagarh-bomb-case-punjilal-taken-to-raipur-1810904.html|access-date=12 May 2018|work=The New Indian Express|date=6 May 2018}}</ref>

On 28 May 2025, Punjilal Meher was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment for the bombing.<ref>{{Cite news|title='Wedding bomb' murderer gets life sentence in India |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c071myeve25o |access-date=2025-05-28 |website=[[BBC]]}}</ref>

==Significance and aftermath==
The parcel bombing was widely reported in India and other countries. The BBC characterized it as having "riveted India".<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-43497820|title=Who sent the bomb that killed this newlywed man?|date=25 March 2018|publisher=|via=www.bbc.com}}</ref> A film, titled ''Bullet Raja'', is planned starring Odia actor Hara Rath and directed by Sridhar Martha.<ref name="movie planned">{{cite news|title=Odiya actor Hara Rath to star in a movie based on parcel bomb case|url=https://www.hindustantimes.com/regional-movies/odiya-actor-hara-rath-to-star-in-a-movie-based-on-parcel-bomb-case/story-KknTreioZN63KRqLnOp1qI.html|accessdate=12 May 2018|work=Hindustan Times}}</ref> Another movie, ''Mind Game'' starring [[Manoj Mishra]], [[Atul Kulkarni]], [[Chinmay Mishra]], and [[Anu Choudhury]], directed by [[Rajesh Touchriver]] and produced by [[Sridhar Martha]] is based on the incident.<ref>{{cite web |title=Patnagarh movie to be granted certification, CBFC made submission |url=https://www.newstrend.news/343376/patnagarh-movie-mumbai-high-court/ |website=newstrend.news |date=25 February 2020 |accessdate=22 April 2020}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

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[[Category:2018 murders in India]]
[[Category:February 2018 in India]]
[[Category:February 2018 crimes in Asia]]
[[Category:Incidents of violence against women]]
[[Category:Improvised explosive device bombings in India]]
[[Category:Terrorist incidents in India in 2018]]
[[Category:Violence against women in India]]
[[Category:Crime in Odisha]]
[[Category:Letter and package bombings]]
[[Category:Improvised explosive device bombings in 2018]]
[[Category:2010s in Odisha]]
[[Category:Balangir district]]

Patnagarh bombing - Revision history

Kaurjenni51: starting the stub from scratch