Veteran journalist, writer and freedom fighter Ranen Mookherjee today passed away following age-related illness, family sources said.
He was 86 and is survived by his daughter.
Before starting his journalistic career in 1952, Mookherjee came in contact with Mahatma Gandhi and actively participated in the freedom struggle. He was imprisoned many times since 1946.
As a journalist, he worked for many Bengali dailies like 'Basumati', where he was the chief reporter, and other newspapers like 'Satyajug', 'Bharatkatha' and 'Sambad Pratidin'. He was also the founder vice-president of the Indian Journalists' Union and an active member of the Indian Journalists' Association.
Author of around 30 books, he had written biographies of leaders like Sheikh Mujibur Rahaman, Hemanta Kumar Basu, Promode Dasgupta and Sahid Khudiram.
He was also active in the Bangladesh freedom movement both as an activist and as a journalist.
In the 1970s, when the Naxal movement spread in West Bengal and other parts of the country, Mookherjee was appointed as a mediator by the Centre.
After working for fifty years, he retired from active journalism in 2002.
His body was brought to the Press Club where journalists and CPI(M) Politburo members Biman Bose and Surjya Kanta Mishra paid their last respects to the departed soul.
A wreath was placed on behalf of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on his body.
Mourning his death, the Kolkata Press Club in a message said, "In his death, our club has lost a mentor, a leader and a cheerful elder brother".
Family sources said his body would be donated to the NRS Medical College and Hospital as per his wishes.
