Odia artist Jiban Patra (41), originally from Baleswar, who was a member of Bollywood star Priyanka Chopra’s troupe in the United States, was found dead in los Angeles’ Beverly Hills hotel on April 7, according to a delayed report reaching here.
Patra is survived by wife Minakshi and two children, who are staying in Mumbai.
Patra could not accompany Chopra’s team to Vancouver from the US because he didn’t have a Canadian visa and was staying in the hotel.
The team came to learn about his death from Priyanka Chopra’s US team manager Natasha Pal after its return from Vancouver.
Minakshi Patra was subsequently contacted through Chopra’s secretary in India on April 8. Natasha Pal also informed that the cause of death was heart attack. The team obtained the necessary legal authorisation from the deceased’s family to send his body to Mumbai. But the body is still in the hospital. The case of death is currently under probe by los Angeles County Coroner investigator Joyce M Kato.
Patra’s untimely death is a big blow to his family as he was its sole bread-earner. Earlier, his elder brother had died in his village four years ago leaving behind his wife and two kids. His father also had a heart attack and died last year.
As per Jiban’s cousins Deepak Patra from Plano, Texas, US and Amulya Patra from Danville, California, he had left Baleswar at a young age for Mumbai in search of a job. For a while, he worked for Bollywood stars Aishwarya Rai and Karan Johar.
Recently, he had been working for Priyanka Chopra as a freelancer.
Deepak and Amulya said Jiban was a very down-to-earth, honest, hardworking and ambitious person. Whenever he came to the US, he never forgot to keep in touch with them.
Jiban worked hard and supported his family in Mumbai and his deceased brother's family and his mother in Odisha and got his two sisters married. Now, his family in India is helpless without any male member.
President of Odisha Society of the Americas (OSA) Annapurna Devi Pandey and president of Telugu Association of North America Prasad Thotakura have contacted the Indian Consulate office and Odisha Government officials to extend help to Jiban’s family. They are in touch with Natasha Pal to ensure that Jiban’s body is sent to India at the earliest.
A ‘Jiban Patra Fund’ has been set up by The Odisha Society of Americas to extend financial help to the deceased’s family. Generous donations have been solicited from
Indian and American communities to be accepted at www.orissasociety.org/donate, said Pandey.