Senior Odisha IPS officer Debasis Panigrahi dies at Kolkata hospital

Senior IPS officer and Director Vigilance of Odisha Police, Debasis Panigrahi died of COVID-19 at a Kolkata hospital. He had tested positive for Coronavirus despite taking two doses of vaccines in the first week of June and was initially under home isolation.

Bhubaneswar: Senior IPS officer and Director Vigilance of Odisha Police, Debasis Panigrahi died at a private hospital in Kolkata while undergoing treatment after being infected with COVID-19, family sources said on Saturday. He was 55. Panigarhi, a 1991 batch IPS officer, is survived by his wife, a son and a daughter. He was airlifted to the private hospital in Kolkata on June 8 and died at about 10.15 pm on Friday night, the source said.

He had tested positive for Coronavirus despite taking two doses of vaccines in the first week of June and was initially under home isolation. But as his health declined, he was admitted to Cuttack Ashwini Covid Hospital where he was put in ventilator support. Later he was airlifted to Kolkata on June 8 as his health deteriorated further. He was under ECMO support as he had developed serious pneumonia and was also suffering from various other comorbidities. Panigrahi was also a writer and had won Odia Sahitya Akademi award. Recently he had penned a book on the pandemic.

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As the news of Panigrahi's death spread, condolences poured in from different quarters. Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik took to his Twitter handle to mourn the death of the 1991-batch IPS officer. 'Deeply saddened to know about the passing away of senior IPS officer Shri Debasis Panigrahi. He was experienced, able police administrator and also a prolific writer. My thoughts and prayers are with the bereaved family members and friends. #OmShanti,' Patnaik said.

Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan in his twitter post said: 'Deeply saddened to learn about the demise of senior IPS Officer and Vigilance Director Debasis 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.' Odisha DGP Abhay also paid rich tributes and said, 'He was an outstanding police officer, an accomplished writer, a compassionate human being and a dear friend. Odisha Police is poorer. He will be missed and remembered for his hard work, integrity, sincerity, leadership and humility.' 'We have lost dear Debasis Panigrahi. He was an outstanding police officer, an accomplished writer, a compassionate human being and a dear friend. Odisha Police is poorer. He will be missed. And remembered for his hard work, integrity, sincerity, leadership and humility,' the DGP said.

Expressing grief, Odisha Special Relief Commissioner (SRC) P K Jena said the IPS officer's demise has left a huge void in the state bureaucracy that cannot be easily filled.

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PTI