Bhagabati Charan Panigrahi

Bhagabati Charan Panigrahi (1 February 1908 – 23 October 1943) was an Indian Odia writer and India’s freedom struggle revolutionary/ martyr . He was a founding member of Netaji's Forward Bloc. He was the founding secretary of Communist Party of India in Orissa. He wrote around a dozen short stories before he was mysteriously murdered while under arrest of British India Police in 1943. He was a close associate of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose.

Literary career Bhagabati Charan Panigrahi, in his short literary career, wrote around 12 short stories. One of his notable short stories was Shikaar. The story captured the life of the tribal communities of Odisha, and the exploitation by British to control and suppress their revolt. The story was made into a film Mrigayaa (1976) by Mrinal Sen. In 2016, an Odia language play was also written and staged based on the same story.

In November 1935, in collaboration with Ananta Patnaik and others, he formed a literary organisation "Nabayuga Sahitya Sansad" . In 1936, he edited a magazine called Adhunika. Panigrahi, along with Guru Charan Patnaik, and Comrade Prananath Patnaik formed the Communist Party of Odisha on 1 April 1936. Panigrahi was the first state secretary of the party. He later became a lead member of Netaji’s Forward Block. Panigrahi was associated with the Netaji’s ideology till his death.

Death On 23 October 1943, Panigrahi was found dead under mysterious circumstances. Back then he was undergoing detention by the British India Police. The death certificate reported he died because of unknown illness, however there were speculations that he was tortured to death because he had not divulged the plan of Netaji to announce Azad Hind Sarkar from Singapore on 21 Oct 1943.