Man dead, wife injured after ’wedding gift’ explodes

A newly-married software engineer and his grandmother died when a courier package thought to be a wedding gift exploded the moment they opened it, at Patnagarh in Odisha's Balangir district on Friday afternoon. The man's wife was critically injured.The deceased were identified as Soumya Ranjan Sahoo and his grandmother Jemamani. Soumya's wife Reema Sahoo, a homemaker, has been admitted to hospital where her condition is stated to be serious.

#Odisha: Groom killed, bride critically injured after a wedding gift received by the couple exploded in Bolangir district's Patnagarh. The groom's grandmother also died in the incident. Police probe underway. pic.twitter.com/rDG7f5bQYb

— ANI (@ANI) February 24, 2018

"The parcel contained a high-grade explosive. We suspect it was covered with gelatin tightly bound with twine. The impact of the explosion was such that the kitchen in which it was opened destroyed completely beyond recognition," said Patnagarh sub-divisional police officer, Seshadeb Bariha, adding that the faces of the three victims were the worst affected.

Investigation is underway to find where the parcel came from: S Bariha, SDPO, Patnagarh #Odisha pic.twitter.com/B3uheXO1rp

— ANI (@ANI) February 24, 2018

Police are yet to detain a suspect in this connection but are not ruling out past enmity as a motive. "We are looking into it from all angles. The newly married man was working outside the state and we will verify whether he had any enemies at his workplace. We will also look into whether anyone held a grudge against the fact that the couple had married each other," Bariha added.Soumya's father, a college teacher, was away in Delhi when the incident occurred. His mother, a lecturer at a local college, was at work.