Bhubaneswar, Oct. 7: No one knows if the former captain of Indian National Army Laxmi Panda ever received the news for which she had struggled for six decades.

She was finally given the status of the freedom fighter by the government last month.

But when the news came, she had already slipped into unconsciousness followed by a major brain stroke on September 13 at Jeypore in Koraput district.

Governor M.C. Bhandare and chief minister Naveen Patnaik received her body at the Biju Patnaik airport here today. Her last rites were performed at the Satyanagar crematory with full State honour .

“By joining the Indian National Army (INA) set up by Netaji at a very tender age, she exemplified patriotism. Her loyalty to the country was incomparable,” said the chief minister while offering the floral tributes to her. He also announced to install her statue of in Jeypore, her home town.

“She had sacrificed her personal life for the cause of the nation. The country incurred a great loss in her demise,” said Governor Bhandare.

Laxmi (83) was under treatment at the Subhash Chandra Bose hospital in Cuttack from where she had to be shifted to All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi by a special plane arranged by Central government. On Monday she breathed her last.

The office of the President of India was reportedly directly overseeing the treatment of the freedom fighter. Panda had visited Delhi in August to witness the Independence Day celebrations and later met the President to express her disappointment.

She rued that despite being a freedom fighter, she had been overlooked by the government and was not even provided the freedom fighter’s pension.

Since there were no jail records to prove her role as a freedom fighter, Panda was forced to earn her living by doing odd jobs sometimes even as a domestic help. Neither the British army nor the police could ever arrest Laxmi. Her free run as a freedom fighter, however, led her to oblivion.

President Pratibha Patil had taken personal interest to honour Panda by giving her the due recognition as a freedom fighter besides sanctioning the grant of pension.

“It was a belated recognition and we are not sure if she relished the news as she had gone into unconsciousness before that,” said Praveen Raj, a relative of Panda.

Earlier in August, 2006, The Telegraph had published an interview of Laxmi narrating the plight of the fighter. The state government had extended some help after the publication of the story.