Freedom fighter Nilamani Samal dies at 102

Kendrapada: Freedom fighter Nilamani Samal of Balipadia village in Jajpur district died at SCB Medical College and Hospital in Cuttack on Saturday. He was 102. Nilamani was suffering from age-related ailments for the last two years.Nilamani was arrested during the Quit India movement by the British and spent three years in jail. He walked 10 km with Mahatma Gandhi to eradicate untouchability. He had been fighting for the rights of farmers in Jajpur district for more than seven decades. “His death comes as a shock. The farming community has lost a champion of its causes,” said Barachana MLA Amar Prasad Satpathy. Ministers Pritiranjan Ghadei and Atanu Sabyasachi Nayak, Jajpur MLA Pranab Das and Kendrapada MLA Sashibhusan Behera, among others, condoled his death.