'Wedding Bomb' Murderer Who Killed Newlywed Man with Exploding Parcel Disguised as Gift Sentenced to Life: Reports

A former college principal and English lecturer has been sentenced to life imprisonment after sending a parcel bomb that ended up killing two people, including a newlywed man, in India, according to reports.

On Wednesday, May 28, Punjilal Meher learned his fate at a court in Odisha’s Bolangir district, seven years after Soumya Sekhar Sahu, 26, and his great aunt Jenamani, 85, died in the explosion, per the Indian Express.

Sahu’s wife Reema also sustained severe injuries in the attack, the outlet reported. The pair had been married for just five days when they opened the parcel Sahu had received at his home in the town of Patnagarh before it exploded on Feb. 23, 2018. 

The parcel had reportedly been sent to the victim “in the form of a wedding gift,” the publication added.

The court found Meher, who was 49 at the time of the attack, guilty of murder, attempted murder and use of explosives in what has been dubbed the “wedding bomb” case, the BBC reported.

According to the Hindustan Times, the victim’s wife Reema, then 22, spent more than a month in the hospital following the attack.

Judge Sonali Patnaik sentenced Meher, who taught English at a private college, to life, as well as ordering him to pay a fine of 50,000 Indian Rupee (approximately $585), the outlet reported.

The prosecution acknowledged that it was a “heinous” crime that the suspect had committed, but chose not to classify it as a “rarest of the rare” case resulting in the death penalty, the BBC reported.

The outlet reported that the victims had been preparing lunch when the parcel, allegedly sent from Raipur in Chattisgarh state approximately 142 miles away, arrived.

The victim’s father, Rabindra Sahu, said of the explosion, “The parcel, delivered by Sky King Courier from Raipur, detonated when Soumya pulled a thread, causing extensive damage to the house, including cracked walls and shattered windows,” per the Hindustan Times.

“While Jemamani died en route to the hospital, Soumya succumbed to his injuries at V.S.S. Medical College and Hospital, Burla,” he added, according to the outlet.

Reema suffered serious burns, a punctured eardrum and trauma following the attack, the BBC reported.

Investigators told the outlet that Meher, who was a former principal of a local college where Sahu’s mother worked, “harbored a grudge over professional rivalry and meticulously planned the attack.” The victim’s mother had allegedly previously replaced Meher as principal.

Meher, who was thought to have attended both the victim’s wedding and funeral, had reportedly used a false name (“SK Sharma from Raipur”) and address to send the parcel bomb from Raipur, as well as opting for a courier service that didn’t have CCTV or parcel scanning, per the BBC. The parcel was allegedly “rigged to detonate on opening.”

Police initially spent weeks investigating the case with no real leads, before the local police chief received an anonymous letter in April 2018, per the BBC.

The letter claimed the bomb had been sent under the name “SK Sinha,” not “Sharma,” and allegedly mentioned motives of money and the groom’s “betrayal,” and hinted at a scorned lover or property dispute as motives.

It also alleged that three men had “undertaken the project” but were now “beyond police reach,” as well as alleging that officers were “harassing” innocent people, per the outlet.

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According to the outlet, local police officer Arun Bothra, who headed Odisha’s crime branch at the time, noticed that the writing on the parcel’s receipt had been misread and it resembled “Sinha” more than “Sharma.”

This led to police to believe the suspect had sent the letter himself.

Bothra told the BBC in 2018, “It was clear that the sender knew more about the crime than we did. By writing that it was being sent by a messenger, he wanted to tell us that the crime was not the work of a local man.” 

“He wanted to tell us that the plot was executed by three people. He wanted to be taken seriously, so he was kind of blowing his fake cover by pointing out a mistake we had made,” the officer adde.

According to the outlet, the victim’s mother ended up recognizing the letter’s writing style and phraseology as that of Meher.

Meher initially told the authorities he was forced to deliver the parcel under threat, but police allege he later confessed to hoarding firecrackers during Diwali, extracting gunpowder and building a bomb, before mailing it from Raipur using a courier, per the outlet.

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On the day he sent the parcel, Meher reportedly left his phone at home to create an alibi after making sure to attend a college class and mark his attendance, the Hindustan Times reported. He then traveled by train to Raipur, but didn’t buy a ticket. He’d reportedly marked the parcel’s contents as “gift articles, sweets,” the outlet reported.

Sahu’s father told reporters outside the court after the verdict was delivered, “We were hoping for capital punishment in the crime considering its rarest of the rare nature. But the court sentenced life imprisonment. We express our gratitude to the court,” per the Indian Express.

PEOPLE has attempted to contact India’s Department of Justice for additional information.