Bhubaneswar: Odisha police is close to cracking the mysterious parcel bomb explosion that killed two persons including newlywed Soumyasekhar Sahu in Patnagarh in February as Crime Branch on Tuesday detained Punjilal Meher for his alleged complicity in the case.

Punjilal had masterminded the entire incident and as further investigation is on, DGP RP Sharma did not divulge much information today.

“The investigation in the parcel bomb case has almost reached its final stage. The Crime Branch is undertaking the investigation briskly and a team also visited Raipur. Punjilal Meher is the prime accused in the case but no one has been arrested so far. We will share the details after collecting few more facts,” said Sharma.

On the other hand Punjilal’s wife Soudamini refuted the allegations. “My husband is innocent; he will never commit such a crime. It is a conspiracy against my husband by the Crime Branch as they were not able to catch the main culprit,” said Soudamini.

Meanwhile, the lone survivor in the bomb blast case Reema Sahu demanded stern action against Punjilal and all the accused in the case.

“People of Odisha should know the truth. Everybody suspected a love angle behind the incident but I knew that my husband was innocent,” she added.

As per sources, Meher reportedly hatched the conspiracy to settle personal scores with Sanjukta -mother of deceased Soumyashekhar after she took over as the new Principal of the Bhainsa College.

The Crime Branch officials had visited the College on Monday along with a dog squad and interrogated the staff. From there, the team visited Punjilal’s ancestral house and seized various documents and cracker bombs, sources said.

Punjilal and his associate Umesh Matari were earlier interrogated by CB officials in connection with the incident. One Baibhasuta Bindhani, also under CB scanner continues to be grilled at the Circuit House in Bolangir, informed sources.

Punjilal had held the post of Principal at Bhainsa College despite being junior to Sanjukta who has now been appointed the Principal of the college. This had apparently prompted him to mastermind the crime.

On February 23, 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 was critically injured in the incident and was discharged after undergoing treatment at SCB Medical College and Hospital, Cuttack recently.