Balangir/Bhubaneswar: Police suspect the involvement of a lecturer in the parcel bomb explosion that had killed a newly-wed groom and his grandmother on February 23 at Patnagarh in Balangir district.

Past enmity of lecturer Punjilal Meher, who has been detained, with Sanjukta Sahu, the mother of groom Soumya Shekhar, is said to be the reason behind the blast.

Meher, who teaches in the capacity of an English lecturer at Jyoti Bikash College at Bhainsa in Balangir, was upset over Sanjukta being appointed the principal last October.

"Meher was upset after Sanjukta was made the principal," a police official said.

He added that the parcel bomb blast case, which was earlier being investigated from the angle of love-related rivalry, had now turned into a case of professional enmity after Meher's role came to light.

Director-general of police (DGP) R.P. Sharma on Tuesday named Meher as the mastermind and prime accused in the parcel bomb blast case.

"The crime branch investigation has reached its final stage. The team is working to gather facts to substantiate the case and a team of the crime branch has reached Raipur. Punjilal Meher is the prime accused in the case, but till now no one has been arrested. We will soon reveal the details of the case to the media," he said.

A special investigation team (SIT) of the crime branch is investigating the case.

The deadly parcel that had landed at Patnagarh residence of Soumya Shekhar from Raipur by courier had killed him and his grandmother, Jemamani, while they were unwrapping the wedding gifts.

Soumya's wife Reemarani got critically injured in the blast and underwent treatment at the plastic surgery ward of SCB Medical College and Hospital in Cuttack. She was released from the hospital a few days ago.

The crime branch had zeroed in on Meher after examining several angles in the case.

Soumya's mother Sanjukta had also said Meher was not happy after she had taken over as the principal of the college replacing him.

She said Meher, along with some other staff members of the college, was harassing her.

Sanjukta had been transferred to the Jyoti Bikash College from Jharbandha College in Bargarh in October last year.

The police detained Meher after picking him up from his Rampur residence in Patnagarh on Sunday morning. The dog squad of the police also detected a cache of explosives from his house that is believed to be the remnant of the explosives used in the making of the parcel bomb.

The police quizzed the staff of the college and seized a laptop, a hard disk and some papers from the college.

It has also detained six other persons, including Bhaibhasuta Bindhani of Nuapada. Bindhani had been arrested in the past on the charges of running an illegal gun factory.

A crime branch team on Tuesday went to Raipur, from where the courier was sent, to collect more evidence. Meher's wife, Soudamini, however, asserted that her husband could never have committed such a heinous crime.

"My husband is innocent. The police have failed to arrest the real culprit and is framing him," she said.

Soumya's wife Reema demanded that Meher should be stringently punished.

"I want the accused be given the sternest possible punishment. He has ruined my life and now he should know how it feels when a family is ruined," she said.