Sahitya Akademi Award winning Bengali author Samaresh Majumdar dies

Sahitya Akademi Award winning Bengali literateur Samaresh Majumdar, who is known for portraying the tumultuous Naxalaite period of the 1970s, died at a private hospital in Kolkata on Monday evening, an official of the establishment confirmed.

Majumdar, 79, has been suffering from Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), and was undergoing treatment at the hospital for over a month.

“Majumdar has been suffering from COPD for more than 12 years. He has been under our treatment for over a month. His health has deteriorated recently and was on ventilator. He died at around 5.45 PM,” the official told PTI.

Best known for his political trilogy Uttaradhikar’, Kalbela’ and Kalpurush’, Majumdar has also penned short stories and travelogues.

He is a recipient of the ‘Sahitya Akademi Award’ for ‘Kalbela’, set against the backdrop of the Naxalite movement. Majumdar’s detective character ‘Arjun’ has been very popular not only among the youth but also among the adults.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee condoled the death of Majumdar, saying this is an irreparable loss to the literary world.