On 26th March, a bomb was allegedly hurled near a mosque in Peer Baba Chowk of Sambalpur, Odisha. The next day, police arrested a 19-year-old youth identified as Abhilash Mishra of Sunaripara in Bada Bazar under the Town police station area. As soon as the reports went out that a Hindu was arrested in the matter, several propagandists jumped to call it a communal matter and termed it a terror act.
Meer Faisal, a journalist, wrote on X, “Sambalpur bomb blast accused Sambalpur police have arrested Avinash Mishra. Three people were injured in the incident. It was a terrorist attack, yet no national media outlet reported on it because the accused was a Hindu.” Notably, Meer Faisal’s previous account was withheld in India after multiple cases of fake news.
Another propagandist, Md Asif Khan, who is known for spreading fake news, wrote, “Where is Indian Media?? Why is no one talking about this bomb blast? Isn’t it a terror attack?”
Another account, “drunk journalist”, wrote, “This is no different from the Rameshwaram blast, but this won’t be called a Terrorist attack, nor would the media show this as news.”
Revenge attack in Sambalpur peddled as a ‘terror attack by a Hindu’
Upon research into the matter, OpIndia found that though a man named Abhilash Mishra was arrested, it was not communal. IG (Northern Range) Himanshu Lal informed the media that after an investigation, the police found that it was a case of revenge and there was no communal angle. He said, “After the investigation, it was ascertained that it was a clear case of personal revenge, and no communal angle was involved. Our team has worked relentlessly over the night to capture the accused in the shortest possible time.”
According to The New Indian Express report, the accused confessed to the crime. Police recovered several tools and materials he used to make the pressure bomb from the accused’s house.
Speaking to the media, SP Mukesh Kumar Bhamoo said the accused is a second-year ITI student. At around 7:24 PM on 26th March, he hurled a pressure bomb towards the mosque from a flyover and fled on his cycle. Three persons were injured, and a vehicle was damaged.
In a post on X, Sambalpur police wrote, “Sambalpur police crack the sensitive bomb blast case within 24 hours and arrested the culprit in Town PS Case No 120/24 U/s 307/326/435 IPC/3 explosive substance act.”
During the investigation, the police found that Mishra had a personal rivalry with a man named Sushil Paika, a member of an Instagram page, “SBP Mafia Gang”. Paika allegedly assaulted Mishra’s father, after which he sought revenge. He planned to frame Paika in a bombing incident and put a ticket, “SBP Mafia Gang”, on the bomb.
The claims that it was a terrorist attack and there was a communal angle to the matter are false.