India, May 28 -- Seven years after the sensational parcel bomb blast incident in the Patnagarh area of Odisha's Balangir district, the Patnagarh Additional District Judge (ADJ) Court today convicted prime accused Punjilal Meher in the case and sentenced him to life imprisonment.

The 2018 blast claimed the lives of newlywed Soumya Sekhar and his grandmother Jemamani, while his wife Reema Rani sustained critical injuries. The explosion occurred on February 23, just four days after the couple's wedding, when they opened a parcel disguised as a wedding gift.

Investigators had revealed that Punjilal, a former principal and English lecturer at Jyoti Vikash Junior College in Bhainsa of Balangir district, meticulously planned and executed the ...