Cuttack: Veteran journalist Arun Kumar Panda passed away at his Cuttack residence following a brief illness on Monday. He was 76.
Panda breathed his last at his residence in CDA area of Cuttack city in the evening, family sources said.
Closely associated with Odia daily Samaj for decades, he was active as a columnist after he retired from the newspaper. Apart from journalism, Panda was associated with many socio-cultural institutions contributing immensely as a social activist.
He was an active member of the Biswa Hidu Parsishad (VHP), Odisha Go Rakshya Abiyan, Swadeshi Movement, among other social reformations.
A pall of gloom has descended in Bhubaneswar and Cuttack and among the journalists’ fraternities following the death of the veteran journalist and intellectual person.