By Biziodisha Bureau, Bhubaneswar, March 19, 2017 : Bureaucrat turned politician and former Rajya Sabha MP Pyarimohan Mohapatra passed away at Mumbai-based Hinduja Hospital today. He was 77.

Mohapatra, who was undergoing treatment in the ICU of the hospital for the last few days, died at around 9.40 PM. He was detected with a malignant tumor in his lungs and was put on ventilator support since Friday. He was undergoing treatment by a team of specialists at the hospital.

Mohapatra was suffering from lungs cancer and recovered. But later on he developed infection following which his health condition deteriorated. He was undergoing treatment at Breach Candy Hospital in Mumbai since last six months and later shifted to the Hinduja Hospital as his health condition deteriorated.

Mohapatra had started his career as an IAS officer and was also the principal secretary to former Odisha Chief Minister Biju Patnaik. He was the most powerful among other leaders and was calling shots in the Naveen Patnaik led BJD government for long till his suspension in 2012 for engineering a failed ‘coup attempt’ to topple Naveen Patnaik’s government.

Incidentally, the Chief Minister was on a foreign visit to London.

Later Mohapatra founded the Odisha Jan Morcha (OJM).