Kolkata: Arnab Roy, Principal Secretary of the state government, died late on Thursday night.
He was 55 years old and was suffering for the past two years.
Condoling his death, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said Roy had worked for several key departments and discharged his duties sincerely. He was soft-spoken and used to maintain good relations with everybody. "I used to have special affection for Arnab and his death would create a void in the administration of the state government," Banerjee maintained.
An Electronics Engineer from the Indian Institute of Engineering Science and Technology (IIEST), he was an IAS officer of the 1991 batch.
As a probationer, he started his career in Nadia district and later became the District Magistrate. He was the Commissioner of Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) and had worked as the Secretary of the Public Works Department (PWD) and School Education department. He fell ill two years ago and was undergoing treatment.
An avid sports enthusiast, Roy was a voracious reader of books on cricket. As the Commissioner of KMC, he used to visit the tent to play indoor games. He was very cordial with journalists. He could mix freely with all the employees irrespective of their position.