Bhubaneswar, September 25: Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has sanctioned Rs 4 lakh from the Odisha Working Journalist Welfare Fund to the family of late journalist Arindam Das, informed Media Advisor to the State Government Manas Mangaraj.
“CM Naveen Patnaik has sanctioned Rupees Four Lakhs from the Odisha Working Journalist Welfare Fund to the family of journalist Late Arindam Das who passed away yesterday in a tragic incident,” tweeted Mangaraj.
Das, a celebrated TV journalist, died during a rescue attempt of a stranded elephant inside Mahanadi river by the Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force (ODRAF) on Friday near Mundali barrage in Cuttack district.
The boat with seven persons on board, five rescue personnel and the two journalists, Arindam Das and cameraperson Pravat Sinha – capsized near a pillar of the Mundali barrage where the base is also a concrete structure causing injuries to them after being swept away by the strong current. While the other journalist Sinha and three ODRAF jawans have been undergoing treatment, the body of one of the jawans, who has been missing since yesterday, was found floating today at Khakadi near Dhabaleswar. Another ORDAF jawans managed to be rescued safely.
Arindam (39) is known for covering disasters. He was among the first few journalists to cover the release of an abducted Italian tourist, Claudio Colangelo, by Maoists in 2012.
