Cuttack: Punjilal Meher, the mastermind behind the Patnagarh parcel bomb blast case, was in touch with some experts from abroad to prepare explosives, said a source in the state Crime Branch.
A special team of Crime Branch (CB) interrogated Punjilal, an English lecturer of Jyoti Bikash College at Bhainsha in Bolangir, for several hours Friday.
CB sources said Punjilal had planned to eliminate the family of Sanjukta Sahu, who replaced him as the principal of Jyoti Bikash College.
“He was in touch with some people from abroad having expertise in explosive making with the help of internet. He sought the experts’ help to use the right amount of explosives in the parcel bomb,” said a CB official.
It is learnt that Pujilal had watched Ajay Devgan-starred Hindi movie Drishyam several times to know the tricks to keep police at bay. “Punjilal had not involved anyone else in the whole process. His family was clueless about his ulterior motive. Punjilal used to collect information on bomb making from internet at night on the pretext of working on a research project,” said the CB
official.
CB sources said Punjilal had read several books on gangsters and mafia in last several months. He had also planned to flee the country after bomb explosion incident that killed Sahu’s son Soumya and another of her family member.
“The CB is facing an uphill task to collect evidences against Punjilal. There was no witness to the case. Police are trying to collect evidences against him from his laptop and mobile phone. They are also trying to find out the auto-rickshaw driver who had taken him to the office of a courier agency in Raipur,” said a source.
Meanwhile, CB sources said they are trying to collect substantial evidences against Punjilal. “We will file chargesheet against the accused soon,” said a senior CB official.
Patnagarh blast: Punjilal was in touch with int’l explosive experts
