Freedom fighter and litterateur Kahnu Charan Patnaik died of cardiac arrest at a private nursing home here on Wednesday evening. He was 86 and is survived by three sons, four daughters and a number of grandchildren.
Patnaik has left behind thousands of students, among whom many are well-established in the fields of literature, administration, politics and social work.
He had joined the freedom movement while a school student and was a member of the Banar Sena. He was arrested by the British Government. He was awarded with Tamra Patra as a freedom fighter by the Government of India.
Feeling the need for enriching the Odia crime literature, he created awareness among people with publication of book Masik Detective in 1959 and subsequently published Masik Goenda, Masik Rahasya Patrika and Satya Aparadha Katha.