Literateur Samaresh Majumdar passes away

Kolkata: Sahitya Akademi Award-winning Bengali literateur Samaresh Majumdar died at a city hospital on Monday evening. He was 79 years old.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee expressed her condolences.

He is known for portraying the tumultuous Naxalite period of the 1970s. Majumdar had been suffering from Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) and was undergoing treatment at the hospital for over a month.

The Chief Minister in her statement said: “I am deeply saddened at his demise. His famous collections are ‘Dour’, ‘Kalbela’, ‘Kalpurush’, ‘Garvadharini’, ‘Uttaridhikar’, ‘Arjun Sanmagra’, ‘Santkahan’. State government conferred ‘Bangabibhuisan’ on Majumdar in 2018. It is an irreparable loss to the world of literature.”

A senior official from the private hospital said: "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 a ventilator. He died at around 5.45 PM." He was admitted to the hospital due to a cerebral haemorrhage on April 25. Later his respiratory complications increased.

He was a prolific author who wrote several novels and short stories in different genres. He is best known for his 'Animesh' series of novels, which comprises 'Uttaradhikar', 'Kaalbela', 'Kalpurush' and 'Mousholkaal'.

In 1984, he won India's Sahitya Akademi Award for 'Kaalbela'. He is also credited for creating the character of 'Detective Arjun'. The Bengali film 'Buno Haansh' is based on a novel written by him of the same name.

Majumdar was born on March 10, 1944, in Jalpaiguri. He was a student of Jalpaiguri Zilla School. He completed his bachelor's in Bengali literature from Scottish Church College in Kolkata and his Master's in Bengali Literature from the University of Calcutta.