BHUBANESWAR : Vigilance Director and writer of eminence Debasis Panigrahi passed away while undergoing treatment for Covid-19 at a private hospital in Kolkata on Friday. An Additional DG-ranked officer, Panigrahi was first admitted to Ashwini Covid Hospital in Cuttack on May 29. As his condition worsened, he was airlifted to Medica Super Specialty Hospital at Kolkata.
Panigrahi started his career in 1991 as an SP and served in Keonjhar, Bhubaneswar, Puri, Ganjam and Cuttack. He also held senior positions in charge of modernisation, personnel and administration as well as Special Secretary of Home Department. Before he was appointed as Director, Vigilance, he was Additional DG (Personnel). Educated at Utkal University as well as JNU, writing remained close to the heart of the senior police officer. A prolific bilingual writer and poet, Panigrahi won a host of literary awards including the prestigious Odisha Sahitya Akademi Award for short stories in the year 2002.
A soft-spoken, gentle soul, Panigrahi had to his credit 10 collections of stories, three collections of novellas, one novel besides one work of non-fiction and lyrics each in Odia. His last collection of poems in English ‘Mellowed with Years’ was released on March 21 this year. Many of his stories have been dramatised and translated in English, Hindi, Bengali, Telugu and Kannada.
He had also penned a number of popular lyrics for audio and video albums, television and cinema. A pall of gloom descended in the police officers community when the news of his demise came in. Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan expressed grief over the demise of Panigrahi. “He held several important positions as an IPS officer and served Odisha with distinction. Offer my deepest condolences to his family in this hour of grief,” he tweeted.