Senior Odisha IPS officer Debasis Panigrahi dies of Covid at Kolkata hospital

Bhubaneswar, June 19

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, 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, 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 on 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 other co-morbidities.

Panigrahi was also a writer and had won the Odia Sahitya Akademi award. Recently, he had penned a book on the pandemic.

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.” PTI