Freedom fighter dies at 99

He was 99 and survived by two sons and a daughter.

A revolutionary from his student life, Patnaik (99) was elected to the first assembly in 1952 and as a congress candidate represented Dhenkanal constituency in the 3rd Lok Sabha in 1962.

The nonagenarian leader was imprisoned several times during freedom movement and injured after being shot at while leading a movement to capture Parjang police station in 1942 during Quit India Movement.

Braving the British force, Patnaik in 1938 had carried the body of slain freedom fighter Baji Rout and six others, who were shot dead for defying the British diktat, to the Khannagar crematorium for performance of their last rites.

In 1947, he took leadership of Prajamandal Workers in Nilagiri and was actively associated with Sardar Ballav Bhai Patel in the Merger of Princely States.

After being arrested at Athagarh in March 1948, Patnaik was incarcerated in Cuttack jail for four years.

Patnaik was conferred with the highest Kapilas Samman in 2005 by the Dhenkanal district administration and honorary doctorate by the Revenshaw University, Cuttack in 2012.